Rome, 26 February (LaPresse) – ‘If Europe wants to count in a rapidly changing global context, it must strengthen its internal market, reduce administrative burdens and accelerate regulatory simplification. From this point of view, there is no time to lose, starting with what we consider an absolute priority, namely energy costs.’ This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in joint statements with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, at the end of their bilateral meeting at Palazzo Chigi. ‘The commitment we have made,’ she added, ‘is to develop concrete responses, already at the European Council in March, because we cannot ask our companies to compete on global markets if they structurally pay more for energy than their competitors.’ ‘From this point of view, the Italian government has recently approved a decree that I consider ambitious and courageous, which also contains some provisions that obviously need to be brought to the European level, first and foremost the issue of ETS. So we are carrying out work that has a strategy involving both the national and European levels,’ the Prime Minister concluded.