The League calls on the government to intervene in Ferretti, one of the most prestigious and important Italian naval engineering groups in the world. The Northern League MP Alberto Gusmeroli, president of the Chamber’s productive activities commission, presented a parliamentary question for “urgent clarifications” to the government on the possible use of golden power. As we anticipated in Dossier, the aim is to protect Ferretti and its proprietary technology of the “Security & Defense” division, supplier of high-speed patrol boats, integrated communication and sensor systems for the navy, carabinieri, coast guard and police. Even the Northern League member Alessandro Giglio Vigna, president of the EU Affairs Commission, makes his voice heard: “Italy cannot afford to give in to non-European competitors, and certainly not to China”.
Because the League wants to defend Ferretti from the Chinese of Weichai
The text of the question states that Weichai “the main shareholder, a state-owned conglomerate which entered the capital in 2012 with a 37-39 percent stake, has modulated its participation over time, remaining below the thresholds for automatic activation of the most invasive procedures, while effectively exercising full control over governance – with six of the nine members of the board of directors – and public sources document a transfer of production technologies from the Italian subsidiary to a nautical hub abroad”.
The shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for 14 May 2026 to decide on the renewal of the board of directors, which will redefine the group’s balance of power and future strategies. For Gusmeroli, Ferretti is “a case that presents clear analogies with the previous Pirelli, with respect to which the government exercised special powers”. The request is about “which urgent initiatives within its competence the Government intends to take, also through the activation of special powers, to protect the industrial and technological heritage of Ferretti SpA and national competences in a sector of strategic importance for the defense and security of the country”.
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Gusmeroli was joined by Alessandro Vigna, president of the EU Affairs Commission, explaining that “the protection of Italian and European strategic technologies is a fundamental issue for the League”. run the risk of giving away sovereign technology to non-European competitors, especially when it comes to industrial skills with possible strategic applications for security, defense and technological autonomy. Defending Ferretti means defending an excellence of our country and its technological sovereignty that cannot be given away lightly.”