PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – Differentiated autonomy “is a bet on spending better. My experience is that the resources for the South are there, but it is difficult to spend them.” The president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, says this in an interview with Libero Quotidiano.
“A week ago we signed a program agreement with the government for the social cohesion funds: 6 billion and 800 million, of which 1 billion and 300 million for the bridge over the Strait, the rest distributed across various projects – he continues -. But the challenge is to spend it. The South stands out for its failure to use the funds. Resources are lost because the procedures are complex, cumbersome, the public administration cannot cope.”
The reform “will push the South to be more efficient, not to feel sorry for itself – adds the president of the Sicilian Region -. No majority party wants to divide the country. Furthermore, according to the latest data from Svimez, the South has grown more than the North. There is a South that wants to make it.”
“The opposition should remember that this law implements the reform of Title V, approved in January 2001 by the center-left with 3 majority votes – states Schifani -. It was that reform that introduced the principle of Autonomy into the Constitution, modifying article 116 and providing that the regions can request different powers from those they have now”.
“The principle that governs the essential levels of services is guaranteed, so that it is ensured that services are homogeneous and equal – he continues -. No region can be disadvantaged, for a simple reason: until not only the LEPs but also the resources to implement them are identified, no reform will come into force. If there is no money for the Leps, the reform cannot be implemented.”
And on the differences in views on autonomy with the president of the Calabria region, Roberto Occhiuto, Schifani explains: “There was a debate within our party. Forza Italia was the protagonist of various changes, starting with the identification of the Lep. Everyone can have their own ideas, but it’s about implementing a path that Fi believed in. The competition between North and South can be a stimulus for the South, to make it more efficient”.
When asked if he is sure that the South will not lose out, the Sicilian governor responds as follows: “We will monitor, but we are confident that the parliamentary and government path will be careful to avoid inequalities and that the agreements will not be able to jeopardize the extent of the regions’ resources who will not make use of these skills, because equalization measures remain precisely to avoid the division of the country”.
– Photo Agency Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS).
