Fifteen days, now more, now less. This will be necessary for the text of the Differentiated Autonomy to be published in the Official Journal after its promulgation by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. At that point the Region’s offices are already ready to deliver to Palazzo Chigi the official request to open negotiations for the State-Region agreement. «We will wait for publication in the Gazzetta, then we will start our dialogue with the government» President Luca Zaia reiterated this from Rome yesterday, Wednesday 19 June.
The requests of Veneto
But what will Veneto concretely ask for in this first operational phase? Zaia has been planting clues for a while. At stake are not only the 9 subjects that do not require lep (essential performance levels, ed.). The president calls back often also the 5 covered by the pre-Antente torn away from Veneto in 2018. And he did it yesterday too: «What subjects will Veneto ask for? The pre-agreement was born in 2018 and there were 5 subjects requested. I didn’t go and ask for 23, it would mean a terrible amount of work.” The 5 subjects of the pre-agreement are largely kryptonite: «labour policies, education, health, protection of the environment and the eco-system and (the only «non-lep») international relations and with the European Union». It is clear that, from education to healthcare, these are the most sensitive subjects but, precisely on healthcare, Zaia had said “We have an idea that we cannot anticipate.” The president then reassures: «We will think about the first 9 which are not to be feared» and announces the immediate convocation of the dormant Consulta on Autonomy which involves social partners and trade associations «to take stock of the ship and understand which matters to focus on ».
The subjects to ask immediately
It is clear that not all 9 possible subjects will necessarily be asked at this stage. These are: Organization of justice of the peace; Foreign trade; Professions; Civil protection; Complementary and supplementary social security; Coordination of public finance and the tax system; Savings banks, rural banks, regional credit companies; Regional land and agricultural credit institutions; International relations and with the European Union of Regions. Among the corridors of Palazzo Balbi it has been said for a while that justice of peace is not among the priorities, as well as the too broad topic of “professions” (“What do we do, do we keep the professional registers?”) but also the topic of rural banks hardly warms hearts. Civil protection, however, receives more interest. Yesterday the regional councilor Gianpaolo Bottacin wrote: «The request that I have formalized some time ago for Veneto is a model similar to that of Trento, with regionalized firefighters». But also relations, especially commercial ones, with the European Union. The first step for Veneto, therefore, is the choice of a “bouquet” of subjects to ask for immediately, without waiting for the 24 months that are still missing for the definition of the lep and, therefore, for the request for the most substantial materials, from energy to infrastructure. What Zaia yesterday defined as “the real revolution”. At that point, our Region can resume the negotiation proposal. The ball then passes into the half of the pitch of Palazzo Chigi.
Times
According to the Calderoli law, the executive has 60 days to evaluate the practice “also for the purposes of identifying the necessary financial resources to be allocated”. At that point the negotiation between the State and the Region begins, also with the communication to the Chambers and the State-Regions Conference. Let’s take an example, Veneto will ask for 7 subjects, the president of the council of ministers “can limit the object of the negotiation to some subjects or areas of subjects”. The Prime Minister’s famous right of veto. But let’s say Chigi says “yes” to the request for the hypothetical 7 subjects. The “yes” will be formalized in the council of ministers, with the governor present. The preliminary agreement goes to the Unified Conference which has 60 days to express itself. The papers then pass to the Chambers for examination which have another 90 days. On the basis of the opinions, a “further negotiation” starts which will produce the definitive version of the Agreement which will then be sent to the Region for approval. Then Chigi has another 45 days to decide. Once official, the Agreement will see the drafting of a “bill approving the Agreement” by the Council of Ministers which will then be sent to the Chambers for final deliberation. In short, even just for non-LEP subjects, you will have to arm yourself with time and patience.
