Michele Emiliano: 'To us the highest share, 6-7 billion in seven years'

"Where the ministries put their hands, everything gets blocked". The governor of Puglia, Michele Emiliano, does not hide his harsh criticism of the hypothesis of a centralisation of the management of cohesion funds: 'While on the one hand there is the theoretical advantage of a greater strategic approach consistent with national objectives, on the other hand the spending of European funds at the hands of the ministries is much slower than that of the regions. Moreover, the guidelines that are given to the regions from Brussels are already agreed with the nation states. So the mechanism already ensures the government's right of primacy, but leaves the regions free to determine the mechanisms for concrete implementation'.Apulia is the Italian region to which the largest share of cohesion funds goes, '6-7 billion over seven years, rising to about 12 with the national share. It is not a treasure, it is a little treasure,' says the Apulian governor. Who, however, defines it as 'the real resource for investment, beyond current expenditure or to pay salaries'. This little treasure arrives in the Mezzogiorno by virtue of being ranked among the European regions that are furthest behind in terms of growth targets, and which must catch up with the more developed areas. "Apulia has increased its GDP by 24 billion over the last nine years also thanks to cohesion policies," the governor claims. Who precisely attributes "a significant impact to the cohesion funds. We are the best Italian region to spend those funds, I dare say European. Even Prime Minister Meloni has recognised this. And we will win the championship in this programming too'. Ready to give battle, along with other governors, to the change of course put in place by Raffaele Fitto. 'On the other hand,' he adds, 'there are 2,700 companies that revolve around this funding. For Apulian entrepreneurs there would be a big difference between dealing with a regional structure they have known for years, such as Puglia Sviluppo, and having to rebuild their relations with the ministries. Which, moreover, would not even have the structures to manage them. It would be chaos'.