(10 feb) – Matteo Lazzarini is Secretary General of Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce. He is author of the book “Eurolobbisti: come orientarsi a Bruxelles tra lobby e istituzioni europee”: an autobiographical story that describes the hidden side of the European capital and shows what is behind the scenes of the European Parliament.
“Italy is and remains my country. But life took me elsewhere, and Belgium is my country of adoption. Living and working abroad turn the differences into a value. In Italy there is negative image of Brussels. Many people think that in Brussels there are eurocrats, bureaucrats, technocrats ready to impose something on us every day. But this is no entirely true, many are just platitudes. A complex institutional architecture, such as the European one – Lazzarini explains – is not a creation of an eurocrat. It is a creature of all the member States, that from year to year have shaped what we now call the European Union. And the member States decide how the European Union must work”.
“For the European Commission – he adds – lobbying is a legitimate part of the democratic systems. Lobbyists can help drawing the attention of European institutions on important issues. And actually the lobbies are part of the European policy making”.
“The European Parliament and the European Commission have set up a lobbies’ register, respectively in 1996 and 2008. Both registers are public and easily accessible. Those Lists are constantly updated and published on their websites. Lazzarini feels at home in Bruxelles: “One out of three citizens isn’t belgian and there are about 27 thousand Italians -. The Secretary General of the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce questions about the ‘new emigration’: “Does it still make sense to talk about emigration even if referred to the european territory? Today travelling is cheaper and easier than ten years ago, also people are more friendly with foreign languages. There are no reasons why a young person shouldn’t accept an offer for a new carrier outside Italy. Not because they have ‘no roots’ or ‘no consistency’, they are boys and girls capable to leave their country and live in different cities with different culture. They are ‘people of today’ well interpreting the concept that Europe isn’t entirely made up of economy or jurisprudence but, most of all, of people. They are real Europeans. “Leaving our country, even by our choice, – continues Lazzarini – is never easy. Changing habits, friends, facing other cultures, speaking in a foreign language, are things not to take for granted. Someone leaves with the illusion to come back in few years, but things work differently. After 2 or 3 years, a return is almost impossible. Who wants to work in a foreign country has to be humble: Paris, London or Bruxelles are not waiting for us. We are in competition on the labor market, as other Europeans. Our position, on the contrary, is of disadvantage. We are the immigrants, maybe graduated, Maybe with an experience, but always considered as foreigners.
As conclusion, a look at Rome: “There’s no doubt that the long Mario Monti’s European Commission experience is a good thing for Italy. It was Monti himself, in the beginning of January in Bruxelles, who said publicly: “I live in Rome and here”. (Gil)
WHO IS MATTEO LAZZARINI
Matteo Lazzarini born in Venice in 1969. He graduated in Political Science at the University of Padova and holds a master’s degree in “Interdisciplinary Analysis of European integration” at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He lives and works in Brussels since 1995 in the field of the business services and consulting for European programs and tenders. He is Secretary General of Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce.
