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Italy and the Hague Conference of December 1969 113tobacco, fruit and vegetables were still waiting for European regulations. TheItalian Communist Party strongly criticised the outcome of the conference. ACommunist spokesman, Silvio Leonardi, made a negative speech in the debate heldin the European Parliament on 11 December 1969 in which he stressed that the EClacked democratic control. In spite of these negative remarks Italy did try, after theHague summit, to tone down the negative consequences of the completion of CAP,as well as the fears generated for its economy in relation to the establishment of theEMU. It was not an easy task, as it was well described by the general director at theFarnesina, Roberto Ducci, in a note addressed to Moro:«we do not have the instruments to limit or change French foreign policy. […] Allour efforts should be focused on Great Britain's negotiations and as to the question ofthe Community deepening we should pursue a strategy aimed at do ut des». 47The do ut des strategy led Rome to condition its definitive agreement on thecompletion of the CAP concerning the question of wine and tobacco in thecommon market system. This request, accepted by the Community in June 1970,was to cause severe strains with France, especially over wine. Moreover, during thework of the Werner Committee, Italian delegates put great pressure on the otherpartners in order to convince them of the seriousness of the problem of regionaldisparities within the EC, particularly evident in the area of the Mezzogiorno.In a conversation, which took place in Rome in November 1970, between AldoMoro and the president of the Commission, Franco Maria Malfatti, the ItalianForeign minister expressed the opinion that the EMU project should be linked withother sectoral policies, such as regional, agricultural and social ones, because«various common policies are conditioned by the decisions taken in the monetaryfield, which is such a binding goal». 48In this context, Italy exerted strong pressure on the other partners, so as topromote a concerted policy on employment. Rome was one of the promoters of thefirst tripartite conference on employment, which took place in Luxembourg in April1970. 49 During the conference the six Labour ministers, the Commission and therepresentatives of the trade unions and employers discussed the pending issue ofunemployment. The Italian Labour minister, Carlo Donat Cattin, played a centralrole in the proceedings of the conference, by trying to promote the development ofa concerted policy on employment through the establishment of a standingCommittee on Employment and the reorganisation of the European Social Fund. Itseems worth stressing that on this occasion Italy closely co-operated with otherEuropean trade unions, sharing both their objectives and projects. 50 This47. HAEC, CSM, Note by Ducci to Moro, June 17 th 1970.48. HAEC, FMM, Folder 17, Visit to Rome, Meeting between Malfatti and Moro, November 13 th1970.49. ECMA, Folder 30566, Tripartite Conference on Employment, Minutes of the Conferenceproceedings, Luxembourg April 27-28, 1970.50. See A. CIAMPANI, La CISL tra integrazione europea e mondializzazione, Ed. Lavoro, Roma,2000; J.E. DØLVIK, An Emerging Island? ETUC, Social Dialogue and the Europeanization of theTrade Unions in the 1990s, ETUI, Brussels, 1999.