The recent reforms regarding the new model of Zes Unica del Mezzogiorno, the bill on differentiated autonomy and infrastructure investments were at the center of the meeting between the president of Unindustria Calabria, Aldo Ferraraand the president of the regional council, Roberto Occhiuto. The meeting, held in recent days, started from the topics addressed during a meeting of the Presidential Committee of Unindustria Calabria. Topics which, although removed from the direct competence of the Region, will have direct repercussions on the Calabrian socio-economic context: this is why Ferrara intended to share the point of view and concerns of Calabrian industrialists with President Occhiuto.
At the center of the discussion, first of all, the potential critical issues related to the Single Zes for the South. In this regard, Ferrara explained to President Occhiuto the concerns of Calabrian industrialists regarding the paucity of resources made available to companies in light of the new and broader perimeter, the lack of involvement of the main stakeholders in the control room, the introduction of the of 200 thousand euros placed at the minimum amount of investments which would exclude small businesses from the incentives. Circumstances which add to the need for clarity regarding the methods of conciliation between the new SEZ and the urban planning instruments of the Municipalities, also in light of the alarms raised by local administrators, and to the need to maintain procedural simplification, the speed in issuing the investment authorizations and the connection between the Zes mission unit and the local stakeholders to avoid there being a disconnect between the operational choices and the territories that will have to accept them.
In taking stock of the infrastructural issues (port of Gioia Tauro, Strada Statale 106 jonica, High Speed, Bridge over the Strait), Ferrara did not fail to demonstrate theappreciation of Unindustria Calabria regarding the decision of the Regional Council to approve the regional bill on the establishment of the Regional Agency for the development of industrial areas and for the attraction of productive investments.
This is precisely in light of the competition between territories that the Zes Unica will stimulate. On the subject, Ferrara expressed the hope that the Agency will soon become a reality, with an adequate supply of financial resources and skills, so as to quickly start the important and no longer deferrable redevelopment interventions that industrialists have been asking for for some time.
The meeting then served to address the issues related to the legislative decreedl on differentiated autonomy, on which Calabrian industrialists have various doubts and perplexities. In this regard, just to mention a few aspects, the position expressed by the president of Unindustria is that according to which we cannot ignore the definition, quantification and above all financing of the essential levels of services, which must be guaranteed uniformly throughout the Italian territory on the basis of standard needs. This is to avoid unequal treatment between territories.
Furthermore, according to Unindustria Calabria, some matters should be brought under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State: Infrastructure, Energy, Mobility, Environment, Schools and Foreign Trade, for example, must be addressed from a country-system perspective that leaves no one behind or more exposed to difficulties, just like matters that require regulation as unitary as administrative procedures.
Without these starting conditions, the risk felt by entrepreneurs is the fragmentation of the country, an increase in gaps, the depletion of human capital in the regions of Southern Italy with potential dysfunctional effects and critical conditions with respect to the needs of the economy and the productive world.
At the end of the meeting, President Ferrara, after thanking Governor Occhiuto for the opportunity for discussion, reiterated Unindustria Calabria’s commitment to pursuing a profitable institutional synergy along the lines of its path taken so far.
