Lombardy-Bavaria alliance to count for more in Europe

(Il OSole 24 Ore Rardiocor) - Lombardy and Bavaria have signed an alliance to intensify mutual relations and join forces on common positions with regard to relations with the European Union. The agreement between the two regions, which are economically and socially similar, was ratified in Milan by the Lombardy Region's Councillor for Economic Development, Guido Guidesi, and the Bavarian Minister of State for European and International Affairs, Eric Beißwenger. The declaration of intent follows a series of institutional summits that have been held in recent months between Munich and Milan, and promoted by Councillor Guidesi as part of a strategy aimed at forging agreements in a European context, so as to consolidate Lombardy's role as a political and economic player able to influence the tables in Brussels and facilitate the 'Lombardy System' (companies, associations, universities, research centres) with regard to the possibility of seizing new opportunities through collaboration with players from other European regions.

With regard to the agreement, the Lombardy councillor and the Bavarian minister emphasised the importance of strengthening relations between two economically strong and geographically close regions, which stand out in Europe for the strength of their entrepreneurial fabric and their ability to innovate, recalling that Bavaria and Lombardy have already cooperated on a European level in the past to defend their interests. The minister and councillor intend to continue and deepen this cooperation in the future. In particular, they intend to strengthen their engagement at the EU level, e.g. through joint events in Brussels and joint positions on legislative acts at the European level. In particular, it was agreed that Lombardy and Bavaria will deepen exchanges and relations in the fields of artificial intelligence, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Moreover, the two regions are world-class science centres and have invested specifically in the expansion of research and science infrastructures in recent years. Greater collaboration between the research centres in Lombardy and Bavaria could generate added value for their respective economies. In this context, a joint request for funds from the European Union is also a way forward to realise an even closer collaboration in research and science. Finally, the minister and the councillor agreed to set up working tables in the coming weeks on matters of common interest involving the Lombard and Bavarian Chambers of Commerce and representatives of the economic fabric of the two territories.