Dense super-minister for the South of Emilia: we hope it has changed

There are the enthusiastic reactions, the suspicious ones, the institutional ones. The powers of Minister Raffaele Fitto have been enriched in recent days by the delegation of the South, a matter that goes hand in hand with Cohesion. They are always combined themes, but the combination had escaped. The Council of Ministers remedied this in Thursday’s session. Fitto, as is well known, will also have to deal with Pnrr and European policies. The president Michele Emiliano welcomes the enrichment of Fitto’s skills with coldness. “We hope well. We hope – says Emiliano – that it has changed and does not use the proxy in his exclusive interest. We are ready to collaborate ». It looks like an iron fist in a velvet glove: the Region and the government will soon have to confront each other – especially for the spending of European funds, including the NRP – and the greeting is not exactly warm.

The other reactions

More institutional is the reflection of the vice president of the Region, Raffaele Piemontese, who among his council duties includes the Programming of extraordinary funds: «Fitto is not only a political exponent who is well aware of the dynamics and needs of the South. His institutional experience will allow him to collaborate well with Puglia. Regardless of the many political assessments that may be divergent, I am convinced that relations between the Region and the government will be based on the constitutional principle of loyal collaboration between institutions ”. What do you think of heavy delegation? “We will see over time, but I consider it an opportunity for the South. In the meantime, I hope soon a meeting that will allow us to release the funds for the extraordinary programming”. A theme, the latter, which is also touched upon by other exponents of the center left. For example by Claudio Stefanazzi, deputy of the Democratic Party, outgoing head of cabinet in the Region, where he remained as political advisor to provide suggestions on funds: «I address this prayer to Minister Fitto: you will soon release the frozen funds in a resolution of the Cipess, which Salvini blocked due to a hypothesis of reprogramming. We are strongly opposed to this after two years of negotiations with the government and the EU. We are talking about about 13 billion of FSC and Por funds for the 2021-2027 programming ». And on the proxies of Fitto? “The right man in the right place. Raffaele is prepared and competent. He was president of the Region, MEP and minister: he is the right person for planning activities in favor of local authorities ». «I am happy – says the deputy pd Ubaldo Pagano – that he is an Apulian to deal with these issues. A sensitivity that comes from the territory could have a rebalancing function in a government with a northern traction ”. Pagano too, like Stefanazzi, underlines the need to release the FSC and Por funds soon. Antonio Decaro, with an institutional tone, evaluates the proxies as mayor of Bari and president of Anci: “It is a good thing to combine the South with the programming of European funds and the NRP, the latter 40% destined for the South. It means having a single interlocutor for extraordinary resources. In recent days, as president of Anci, I met with Fitto to start a first discussion on the critical issues of spending: we are both aware of the great responsibilities we face. In our respective roles we know that we represent the institutions and on their behalf we will work. “” Since Fitto will deal with Pnrr – underlines the deputy Leonardo Donno, coordinator of M5S in Puglia – I want to remind you that that money is the result of the work carried out by president Conte, in his first and second government. Since we hear that we want to dismantle the PNRR, we will ensure that this does not happen. One thing is the eventual remodeling to cope with the price increase, another is to change projects and financing. From the minister I expect the protection of the destinations of the funds in the South. As for the political judgment: I saw Fitto as president of the Region and I don’t have a good memory of him. I wish him now that as minister he will do a good job for the protection of the interests of the citizens of the South ».