Bolzano – On 9 May, on the anniversary of the presentation, in 1950, by the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman of the declaration with which he proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, the Bolzano Festival is celebrated. ‘Europe. On the occasion of the celebratory day, every year the Council of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano organizes an event: in this context, the council chamber hosted the presentation of two expert reports this morning on the theme “South Tyrol and Europe”, welcomed by the Prime Minister, spoke of an idea born 70 years ago as a project of peace, unity and well-being, from which Alto Adige has benefited greatly. The president of the Province spoke of a successful project that guaranteed stability, and referred to the advantages guaranteed by the Europe of pluralism and values specific to Alto Adige.
The first to speak was Elisa Bertò, from the Euregio General Secretariat, who in her speech wanted to highlight some points of contact between the recent history of Alto Adige and the European one and how, in their respective formation, they have dialogued: ” A great laboratory of cultures, knowledge, experiences, traditions, forms of self-government, as a border and transit territory, Alto Adige was destined to deal with its European dimension and vice versa, to allow a future of collaboration, even economic, of great importance for European pacification and stability”, said the speaker, retracing in parallel the stages of European integration and those of the solution to the South Tyrolean question.
In this context, the rapporteur mentioned the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, with which decisions and measures adopted at European level began to have a stronger and more immediate impact on Regions, Cities and Municipalities , and the opening of a representative office at the European institutions together with the Land Tyrol and the Province of Trento.
In conclusion, Bertò underlined that the history of Alto Adige has already had a concrete impact in consolidating the idea of a Europe “united in diversity”, cohesive and harmonious, thanks to the instrument of Autonomy, and highlighted the value of “Alto Adige method”, a province that has been able to build itself “through the positive understanding of the border, interpreting the Alpine space as an open space; from here it was able to build a model of territorial autonomy that contributed to shaping a Europe of rights”. It is a method “to be used with courage”.
Human rights expert Gabriel N. Toggenburg then took the floor and asked himself how friendly the EU is to Alto Adige, how much a friend of Alto Adige is the EU and how truly the EU is. For many years, he said, the EU was blind towards regions and minorities, and yet, for South Tyrol, more useful than the Council of Europe which protects minorities: Austria’s joint EU membership and Italy has, in fact, effectively dissolved the borders between states. Referring to the experience of the internal market, and citing three rulings of the European Court, the rapporteur concluded secondly that EU law and the autonomy of South Tyrol are no longer on a collision course, which does not exclude the possibility of them talking to each other when it comes to issues relating to the protection of minorities. Finally, he concluded that the EU is a platform that mediates the most diverse interests and where it moves depends on the general political situation: it is true that it takes away sovereignty from states, but, if it were missing, crises should be fought through international law, every form of democratic codetermination would collapse and small European states would find themselves in a great Darwinian power struggle. In conclusion, the expert called for a shift from an undifferentiated fundamental criticism of the EU to a criticism of the specific policies of the EU.
Subsequently, provincial councilors and councilors spoke, highlighting various topics. Among these, the systematic and transparency deficits in the issue of Covid vaccines, the protection of minorities, Europe’s management of crises, the possibilities for citizens to commit to Europe, Europe’s weak role in foreign policy, the Europe of the Regions, the dismantling of the European idea, the protection of residential surfaces, in the province, in a single market context.
Toggenburg clarified the intentions of the legal provisions and the room for maneuver for the protection of minorities and recalled the pillars of the single market, security and collaboration of law enforcement agencies sanctioned by Maastricht, the need for politicians to dispel false populist myths, the use at the borders as soon as there is a crisis, the actual existence of systematic deficits, the role of the European Court. The celebratory moment was then declared concluded by the Prime Minister, who thanked the speakers for their contributions.
