‘A greater say for regional authorities in drawing up the new EU budget’

When we talk about Southern Italy, there is a risk of using words we have heard time and again: disparities, lagging development, infrastructure, employment, young people leaving their homeland. These words are true, but they are no longer enough to capture the complexity and potential of this part of the country.

That is why I have read the report compiled by Roberto Garofoli with particular attention. Because, beyond the individual proposals, it raises a fundamental question: how can we transform the extraordinary period of investment we have experienced into a sustainable development model? The report stems from the need to reflect on Italia’s growth following the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and examines the interplay between social cohesion, competitiveness and the quality of the institutions that have shaped the path of Italia and the South in recent years. It is a question that concerns the whole country, but one that carries particular weight in the South.

In recent years, Southern Italy has shown that it is not doomed to marginalisation. It has demonstrated productive capacity, entrepreneurial drive, universities and research centres capable of competing, regions that have succeeded in attracting investment, and local authorities which, when given the opportunity to work consistently, have been able to implement complex programmes and transform resources into construction sites, services and infrastructure that are now an integral part of citizens’ lives. Apulia, too, has provided concrete evidence of this capacity, but we cannot be content with the results achieved so far: unless growth becomes structural, it risks remaining a mere blip.

The question, then, is what remains of these investments. We must ask ourselves what we have achieved with these funds and what we have learnt from managing these programmes. These are valid questions for local authorities as well as for governments grappling with new policies designed to support local communities.

This is where the most sensitive issue arises. We are in the final stages of the 2021–2027 programming period and are called upon to shape the next cycle. The transition phase requires, at the very least, further reflection. We cannot reach that stage when resources have already been allocated and the rules already laid down, without having first initiated a dialogue amongst the stakeholders involved. This means being able to decide whether a region will have the resources to complete an infrastructure project, whether a business will be able to rely on multi-year funding to invest, whether a university will be able to consolidate a research programme, and whether a local authority will be able to plan a project without facing a funding shortfall.