Italy, “A centralist approach to the Recovery Fund”

Donatella Tesei (Umbria) and Giovanni Toti (Liguria) denounce the absence of answers on the role of the Regions and the allocation of only 82 billion lire to new projects

In Italy, the dissatisfaction of the Regions mounts for the way of using the funds that will be made available by the European Union for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which would seem to neglect the most important territorial public body.

“On the so-called ‘fund for the recovery’ – declares Donatella Tesei, President of the Region Umbria – in spite of the indications of the minister Vincenzo Amendola (titular of the Dicastero for the European Affairs, ndr), there is not still a definitive answer on the role of the Regions, also for the turbulences with which the national executive is taken”. “And However,” added Tesei, “my judgment is that it is a centralist approach…”.

127 billion euros subtracted from the debt

For the Umbrian Governor, “out of a total of 209 billion worth of Recovery Fund, only 82 are for new projects, because 127 billion of loans are for works already planned, so as not to increase public debt. The Regions should not have, at present, a share to manage independently, while the size of the regional role in both the planning and implementation phases is still to be understood”.

And again: “We are asking for clarity to the Government, Stefano Bonaccini (President of the Emilia-Romagna Region as well as at the top of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, ed.) has asked for a direct meeting but it has not yet been possible, which is why the question mark remains on the role of the Regions.

For the time being, each Region, at the request of the Government, has sent the Conference only a compendium of projects of all types that can be implemented, without any political-strategic choices. The Conference has sent the Government only a series of overall amounts on the six lines of the plan that can be deduced from the project amounts of the Regions.

There was no strategic-political discussion on regional projects, precisely because the cornerstones for setting up this reasoning are missing: the role of the Regions, whether programmatic or only implementation, and whether or not they are recipients of a quantity of funds for regional needs, even within the strategic lines identified”.

Local public bodies are the real country

In conclusion: “If this remains the Government’s approach, it is a mistake. Because sharing with the Regions and local authorities these projects would allow not only to move towards choices that are useful to the country, but also to be able to implement them in the very tight timeframe foreseen for the Recovery. All the presidents of the Regions consider it useful that a part of the resources be entrusted to them and then there are projects in accordance with what is established by the State-Regions Conference”.

24 Regions to Europe: “Involve us in the Recovery Plan…”.

“The Recovery Plan is an esoteric exercise, not even the ministers have seen it,” added the President of the Liguria Region, Giovanni Toti, between the serious and the facetious.

“From what I’ve read, I think all parties will vote in favor of the Recovery, but then I want to see how it will be implemented….”