The Economist - UK (2022-03-26)

The Economist March 26th 2022 Europe 31

In the run­off, 65% of its voters backedher;

just 35% backed Emmanuel Macron.Ahead

of the two­round election on April 10thand

24th,  polls  say  she  is  the  mostpopular

choice  for  blue­collar  voters  nationally,

and  again  the  most  likely  to  face  MrMac­

ron  in  the  run­off.  Promising  to  keepout

immigrants and ease the cost of living,Ms

Le Pen has built a stronghold in thenorth­

ern rustbelt, especially among voterswho

once leaned to the far left. She representsa

northern  seat  in  parliament.  And, since

2014,  her  party  has  run  the  townhallin

nearby Hénin­Beaumont, where thisweek

she took her campaign bus. 

Other  candidates  are  also  tappinginto

the  yearning  in  blighted  corners  likethis

for  an  alternative  to  the  sitting  president.

One  is  Jean­Luc  Mélenchon,  a  razor­ton­

gued 70­year­old from the hard leftwhois

on his third presidential run. He camesec­

ond  in  first­round  voting  in  the  villagein

2017. Another is Eric Zemmour, a far­right
polemicist  whose  latest  wheeze is “re­
migration” to send 1m immigrants“home”.
On a recent weekday, EmmanuelleDan­
jou, a sales manager, was slippingleaflets
for Mr Zemmour into letter boxes onanes­
tate  of  neat  two­storey  homes.  Hispro­
gramme “is really focused on a reconquest
of our country. We’ve lost our values;we’re
dismantling our country, our history”,she
says; “He says out loud what manyFrench
people think in private.” Frédéric Dewitte,
from a nearby village, joins her leafleting.
He  used  to  back  Ms  Le  Pen  but  nowfinds
her  “too  left­wing”,  and  not  Eurosceptic
enough. Mr Zemmour, he says, is a“manof
culture” who could “possibly save France”.
Dislike of Mr Macron is not universalin
Auchy. “Excusez-moi, he hasn’t hadaneasy
task,”  says  a  70­year­old  standinginhis
garden  in  plastic  slippers.  On  the high
street,  where  the  “Best  Kebab”  jointsits
near  a  boarded­up  insurance  agency,an­
other man agrees that it is “unfair”tojudge
the  president  too  harshly,  what  withthe
pandemic and war in Ukraine. Yetthereis
little love for him. He “values globalisation
and Europe more than France”, declaresMr
Dewitte.  Many  locals  think  he  has gov­
erned for the rich, not for people likethem.
This  matters  for  Mr  Macron.Not be­
cause  he  needs  their  votes:  pollssuggest
that he would easily beat any potentialri­
val in the run­off. But if he is re­elected,Mr
Macron will have to govern a discontented
and volatile country which readilytakesits
unhappiness  to  the  streets.  Someofhis
campaign  proposals,  unveiled  onMarch
17th, would be vigorously contested,nota­
bly  his  promise  to  raise  the  pensionage
from  62  to  65.  Mr  Macron  maybe well
placed to win the presidency, and possibly
even a new majority at parliamentaryelec­
tions in June. But, as Auchy­les­Minessug­
gests, governing a fractured Francemaybe
even harder the second time around.n

DigitisingItaly

Io, robot

T

hehomelandofGalileoandMarconi

hasproved unexpectedlyresistant  to

digitaltechnology.ManyItaliansadopted

mobilephoneswhiletheywerestilla rarity

inothercountries,includingAmerica. Yet

thesharewhoregularlyusetheinternet is

nohigherthaninTurkey.

ThatpartlyreflectsItaly’selderlypopu­

lation:ithastheeu’shighestmedian age.

ButRiccardoLuna,formerlyhiscountry’s

representativeintheEuropeanCommis­

sion’s DigitalChampions Expert Group,

saysotherfactorshavealsoplayeda  role.

Foreightofthetenyearsfrom 2001 to 2011,

Italy’sprimeministerwasSilvioBerlusco­

ni,atvmagnateforwhomtheinternet

represented a commercial danger.  Tele­

comItalia,thecountry’sdominant  land­

lineoperator,hadaninterestinslowing

theintroductionofbroadbandtomaintain

thevalueofitsmainasset,a copper cable

network.In 2020 theshareofItalianadults

whohadusedtheinternetintheprevious

threemonthswasjust78%—thesecond­

lowestintheeu.

Themanchargedwithchangingthat is

VittorioColao,oncethebossofVodafone.

LastyearMarioDraghi,theprimeminister,

recruitedMrColaotobehisminister  for

digitaltransition.Thankstotheeu’s colos­

salpost­pandemicrecoveryfund,Mr Colao

has more than €40bn ($44bn) to  work

with.Onegoalistohelpindustrydigitise.

Anotheristobringextra­fastbroadband to

schoolsandhealthclinics,aswellas  pro­

vidingbroadbandand 5 gmobilenetworks

to remoteareas.MrColaoalsowants  to

help  the  3m  or  so  Italians  who  have  been

left  behind  by  the  digital  revolution  ac­

quire basic computer skills, and to stream­

line  public  access  to  government,  largely

through smartphone apps.

In  that  realm,  Italy  has  made  impres­

sive  progress.  Matteo  Renzi,  a  techno­

evangelist  who  was  prime  minister  in

2014­16,  launched  several  projects  that

have been implemented under his succes­

sors.  Mr  Colao  flourishes  his  smartphone

and  points  to  an  app  called  Io  (“I”):  “I  can

now  pay  my  social­security  contributions

for  my  domestic  help  directly  from  this.  I

showed  it  to  a  German  politician.  He  was

open­mouthed with astonishment.”

Io and a clutch of similar apps appeared

just as covid­19 was spreading in Italy, con­

fining Italians to their homes and encour­

aging them to become more digitally savvy.

The  pandemic  has  helped  in  other  ways

too. “We were not a nation of e­shoppers,”

says Mr Colao. “And yet [e­commerce] has

now become absolutely normal.”

One of his biggest challenges, he says, is

convincing  businesspeople  to  invest  in

digital initiatives. The other is getting offi­

cials  to  integrate  systems  and  harmonise

procedures. Digitisation in the public sec­

tor has been haphazard. There are an esti­

mated  11,000  databases  spread  across  na­

tional, regional, provincial and municipal

government.  “We  spend  our  time  arguing

with  other  ministries  and  local  authori­

ties,” says Mr Colao. “Digital does not need

to  be  centralised,  but  it  does  need  to  be

homogenous.”

The  rewards  are  potentially  immense.

Two of the biggest reasons why the Italian

economy  has  stagnated  since  the  turn  of

the  century  have  been  low  productivity

and  a  stubbornly  inefficient  bureaucracy.

Tens of billions of euros will help to tackle

both.  As  Mr  Colao  admits,  ensuring  they

are  spent  wisely  can  befrustrating.  “But  I

always  say  that  if  I  weren’tfrustrated  I

wouldn’t be doing my job.”n

R OME

A minister for digital catch-up

Seeking a merchant of Venice