“Differentiated autonomy is a disaster for Southern Italy. Although there is an ongoing attempt by certain political forces to mystify reality and “somehow sweeten the pill”, the Bill presented by Minister Calderoli and already approved in the Senate risks humiliating and definitively condemning the southern regions to a condition of subordination, creating an irreparable rift between North and South. Nespite the fact that the text talks about guaranteeing the infamous LEP (Essential Performance Levels) at a regional level, it is clear that this new structure, if definitively introduced, will tend to penalize the southern regions in an increasingly burdensome manner. Guaranteeing LEPs, in fact, means guaranteeing the survival of a community, with the minimum that is acceptable, but does not in any way provide for the growth or development of a territory. Consequently, within a few years the gap between North and South, between richer and poorer regions will continue to increase (without considering how the impact of the cost of LEPs on the State has yet to be assessed)” The regional councilor stated this in a note Ernesto Alecci.
“Taking into consideration, for example, Education, one of the subjects to which regional autonomy could be applied, the standardization of the LEP – according to Alecci – would guarantee throughout Italy the presence of safety-compliant schools, classrooms, desks, a certain number of teachers for a certain number of students, some laboratories for technical subjects, places to carry out physical activity. But once these services have been ensured through shared funds, the richer regions could invest their remaining resources on their own educational offer with the creation of multifunctional gyms for practicing all sports, latest generation multimedia classrooms, the recruitment of more specialized and higher paid teachers, the activation of training courses and internships within companies financed by the region for start-up work, etc. These are just a few examples, but this could be the future scenario if differentiated autonomy were to become an effective law. And this model could be replicated for Healthcare, Transport, the Environment and many other subjects, where the Regions that are already more developed, after having guaranteed the LEP within the “poorer regions”, will still be able to invest the surplus generated by their taxation, raising the quality of all their services and becoming increasingly attractive. Consequently, within a few years the gap between North and South, between richer and poorer regions will continue to increase. A danger for the stability of the entire country, which would rather need an “enlightened” central government capable of bringing out regional excellence and accompanying the development of individual territories by enhancing their individual peculiarities. In this way, even the southern regions could, through ad hoc laws, invest in their strengths, giving rise to a sort of “differentiated development”.
Finally, according to Alecci, “this is not a political battle, this is a battle of dignity, in defense of the future of our next generations and against a Northern League-led government which has repeatedly demonstrated that it certainly does not care about development and the growth of Southern Italy. For this reason I will do everything to be present at the demonstration on Friday 16 February in Rome, in Piazza Santi Apostoli, and I trust in the mass presence of many Mayors and administrators from the southern regions. There is no more time to lose, it’s time to make our voice heard!”.