PIt is nothing marginal and symptomatic of a castrating and superficial attitude towards good ideas for the city. The council affair of the Europe Desk, indicated with guidelines in a specific motion by the vice-president of the Council Concetta Soragnese, ignored by the broad progressive camp, it is arousing not only harsh reactions in the center-right but also dismay among many moderates.
As explained by the Melonian city councilor, who for 8 years worked in Brussels on European funds intended for member countries, the office is to be considered a physical and virtual space at the service of the public administration but also of every private individual, company or association that intend to learn about European, national and regional funding opportunities.
According to what was communicated in the chamber and in the press, the branch councillor Alice Amatore would already be implementing the points proposed by Soragnese. “Having proposed the motion in February, there were 5 months to take inspiration – explains the elected representative – but, when asked to provide the written documents with which these actions were implemented, the response was ‘there are no documents written’. The councilor said that the Municipality is joining the ‘building Europe with local councillors’ network, which is an indication that I gave in my motion. She said that she would have done it regardless because she already knew the network, but this is false because only insiders know about it. So I wonder: considering that to join you just have to fill out a form, why hasn’t this been done between December and today? Does this mean that they followed the ‘advice’ contained in my motion or not? To date, the Municipality of Foggia is not registered in the network, only the Municipalities of Candela, Peschici and Mattinata are registered”.
The European Commission pilot project it is called “Building Europe through local councillors”, it is the aim of building a European network of locally elected representatives in all member states, with the aim of making Europe known locally. The project application also concerns the appointment of a local elected representative as a member of the ‘Building Europe with local councillors’ network. Participation in the project does not include financial transactions of any nature, and includes: communication material and regular updating of information to involve citizens on European Union issues; depending on available resources, priority access to the European Commission Visitor Center in Brussels, in person or electronically, organized, when possible, in their language; access to an interactive platform to encourage interaction with other members of the network; information on other EU initiatives dedicated to local councilors and local authorities, including in particular the activities of the Committee of the Regions and its Network of EU Regional and Local Councillors, as well as opportunities to follow and contribute to their activities.
Well, Soragnese is also skeptical about the concrete actions of the Democratic administrator. Her trip to Brussels, in fact, is part of a Unifg project and not one of the Municipality’s initiatives.
In September 2019, the University of Foggia launched the Eurocamp 2027 project, a higher education school in Euro-planning, with the partnership of the Municipality of Foggia. On this occasion, two employees of the Municipality of Foggia participated, successfully carrying out the course, which took place between the classrooms of the University and the headquarters of the Commission and the European Parliament in Brussels. The Municipality, as stated in Soragnese’s motion, already has trained and qualified personnel for participation in European tenders.
“This is the second edition of Eurocamp, a project started in 2019 of which I was part, however there is no trace of the establishment of the Europe Desk which represents a real opportunity for young people both in terms of financing and work”.
