Good morning everyone.

Welcome to Italy, and welcome, in particular, to the wonderful Verona. My thanks go to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, whom I would like to sincerely congratulate for this event. My greetings to all the Speakers and Presidents of the Lower Houses of the G7 nations, to the President of the European Parliament, my friend and a friend of Italy’s, Roberta Metsola, to the President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Stefanchuk and to the Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Ackson.

It is a great honour for me to participate in this initiative, albeit remotely, and I want to apologise to all of you that I was unable to join you in person, but I nevertheless wanted to make my contribution to today’s proceedings.

As you know very well, the Group of Seven is a group united by shared values and principles, playing an irreplaceable role in defending freedom and democracy. The G7 governments fulfil this role and do so by following the guidance of their respective national parliaments, where the sovereignty of the people finds its maximum expression. This is why, and I say this as a member of parliament even before I say it as a head of government, I think that developing and strengthening the parliamentary dimension of the G7 is absolutely an added value. Italy is proud to have contributed to initiating this process, which has now become even more important considering the complexity of the challenges we are called upon to address in these difficult times. With regard to those challenges, it is crucial that politics and therefore Parliaments themselves first and foremost assert their key role.

One of these challenges is undoubtedly generative artificial intelligence, as President Fontana talked about before, and it is no coincidence that Italy chose this as one of the priorities for its G7 Presidency this year. During the Summit at Borgo Egnazia, we listened to His Holiness Pope Francis’s point of view on this matter and I would like to reflect with you about one of the messages the Pope conveyed in his address, which I believe to be extremely important. The Holy Father reminded us that “politics is necessary” and its greatness can be seen when “we uphold high principles and think of the long-term common good”. The Pope also reminded us that all technological instruments created by human beings, including generative artificial intelligence, must have an “ethical inspiration”, i.e., they must be aimed at “the good of every human being”. I fully agree with this reflection, because, if you think about it, artificial intelligence is nothing more than a great multiplier, and, if that is the case, the question we must ask ourselves as politicians is: what do we want to use artificial intelligence to multiply? What I mean by that is, if that multiplier were to be used to finally find a cure for currently incurable diseases, then it could make an extremely significant contribution to the common good. However, should that multiplier instead be used to increase inequalities and disrupt global balances, then that would lead to potentially catastrophic scenarios. Whose job is it to answer this question?

It is up to politics, to “healthy politics” in particular. If politics were to delegate its response to algorithms or machines, then politics would simply be abdicating its role, with consequences that are today unimaginable.

It is no coincidence that the Holy Father’s reflection was addressed to us, and we need to heed his powerful exhortation. And when I say “us” I mean those who have the responsibility of governing, of course, but above all I mean Parliaments, which are the heart of our democracies as they are where all citizens are represented and different world views can engage in dialogue, find consensus and turn into responses for those citizens.

What will we be able to do, for example, to ensure artificial intelligence is human-controlled, human-centred and at the service of mankind? The answer to that question will tell us whether politics has taken on its role or abdicated that role.

I am pleased to be able to say that politics is not abdicating, as indeed can be seen by the results of the G7 Leaders’ Summit, with the commitments made in the final declarations and with the work the various ministerial meetings are also doing, allowing for significant progress to be made.

I am thinking, for example, of the decision to create a mark to enable citizens and consumers to recognise companies and organisations that adopt the code of conduct provided for by the Hiroshima Artificial Intelligence Process. However, I am also thinking about the action plan on the use of AI in the world of work, as we aware that this revolution will have consequences for all sectors and for the lives of millions of workers. This action plan will be adopted during the meeting of Labour Ministers in a few days’ time and I believe it will represent a major point of reference on this matter.

In my view, however, politics cannot help but feel another weight on its shoulders: assessing the impact the new forms of power that are emerging, such as computational power, which is the computing power associated with increasingly sophisticated and powerful algorithms, may have on global balances. Then there is the fact that geopolitical competition is today entering unchartered territory, which is not inhabited by people but by algorithms, machines and technology. It is up to politics – again, to governments but also and above all to parliaments – to take on this responsibility, which is increasingly crucial in a global context that is already particularly complex and characterised by growing instability and conflicts that have repercussions across the board.

I am of course thinking of the war in Ukraine and our commitment, which we have strongly reaffirmed also at G7 level with new responses to support the nation under attack, to defending the international system based on rules and the force of the law, which is the foundation of coexistence between nations and a guarantee for everyone. This commitment has been confirmed on several occasions not only by the governments but also by the parliaments represented here, and it will continue until two key objectives are met: the end of the war and a just and lasting peace.

However, I am obviously also referring to the conflict in the Middle East, where there can be no further delay in reaching a comprehensive agreement based on the mediation that the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been working on and that provides for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas on 7 October. There can likewise be no further delay in achieving a significant step change in the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population. 
The G7, being headed by Italy, has always been at the forefront to prevent further escalation in the region, starting with the situation in Lebanon which we are very concerned about. A lasting political solution to the crisis, able to give new impetus to the prospect of a two-state solution, is now more necessary than ever.

While we are undoubtedly operating in a context of multiplying crises, we must also remember that every crisis always hides an opportunity. It is up to politics to be wise and seize these opportunities. I believe one of the opportunities we have before us is to make the most of these times to build a new model for approaching international relations and to show that the West is not some fortress that wants or needs to defend itself from something or someone; it rather embodies values that are open to the rest of the world and wants to create the conditions for shared development together with its global partners.

We have a historic opportunity, and I am particularly satisfied that, under Italy’s Presidency, the G7 has marked a change of pace and perspective in this regard. I am thinking, for example, of the strategic synergies we have established between Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa, the European Union’s Global Gateway and the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, as well as the new financial instruments we have created together with the African Development Bank to support the development of the African continent.

This is precisely the approach we wanted to implement, and this will be Italy’s approach when it also participates in the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro in November. Together with the other G7 nations, Italy will ensure the greatest possible cooperation with the Brazilian Presidency to make shared progress on several fronts. I am thinking, for example, of more decisive action against poverty and hunger and efforts to address the climate-energy nexus in a more pragmatic, less ideological and socially more fair way. I am also thinking of the measures needed to make international financial institutions and the United Nations more efficient. 

With regard to these wide-ranging topics, I am convinced that Parliaments can and must play a decisive role. I will be happy to receive the final declaration you will adopt at the end of your meeting, and I am sure I will draw extremely useful insights and suggestions from it for the work of the Italian Presidency.

Thank you all, I wish you all the best with your work, and enjoy your stay in Italy.
 
[Courtesy translation]