Extreme beauty and difficulty. Southern Italy is difficult to describe in a few words and perhaps difficult to understand for those who do not live there. Rino Gaetano sang “For example, I love the south” as a journey between dream and reality, among the wonders and problems of his native Calabria. And it could not yet know about the differentiated autonomy that the Meloni government is relentlessly pursuing, the latest in a series of potential blows to the South among revisions of the Pnrr, suppression of institutions and centralization of powers. However, Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania Region, leads the rebellion in the south by bringing anger and insults to Palazzo Chigi (see below).

It’s like 1992 but autonomy is different

Umberto Bossi’s best intentions for the Northern League in the 1990s appear to be coming true. Everyone stays at home, everyone does their own business in the region where they were born, and this state centralization is enough. Take care of yourself. But he could not foresee one thing: the South is moving to the North for basic needs such as education, work or healthcare. The latest Svimez report claims that more than 2.5 million people left the south from 2002 to 2021. 81% of these went to the mid-north. The net outflow from the population under the age of 35 was 808 thousand people, 263 thousand of whom were graduates.

The situation may be even worse with differentiated autonomy. Simply put, the Regions will have greater autonomy in some matters, as long as the a priori minimum service levels stipulated by the Constitution, called Lep (Basic Performance Levels), are guaranteed. Moreover, the State provides “equalization” measures, i.e. additional funds, for those who do not want more autonomy, in theory, with the aim of standardizing the level of service from North to South. On paper the situation doesn’t look that bad, but it seems that greater autonomy for the Regions does not correspond to more efficient services for citizens and lower costs for the State, in the spirit of the Calderoli Bill that carries this forward. The situation gets worse as you move south.

The Parliamentary Budget Office expressed its view as follows: “As stated in previous sessions, the evolution of differentiated autonomy towards a highly fragmented scenario cannot be ruled out.” In its annual recommendation letter, the European Commission warned the government that differentiated autonomy “risks compromising the ability of public administrations to manage public expenditure, with a consequent possible negative impact on the quality of Italy’s public finances and regional inequalities.” The Bank of Italy also points out the concrete risk that the State’s costs may increase, given that “overall expenditures may be affected by higher costs due to the fragmentation in the provision of public services and lower costs resulting from economies of scale.” Do three institutions criticizing a bill prove its inadequacy?

Two health systems, unique challenges: The sad face of Italy

Healthcare today seems to show us what can happen tomorrow with differentiated autonomy. At the moment the problems are already huge, the differences between the north and the south have reached the point of “danger”: according to the latest data of the Gimbe foundation, over 4 billion euros of money have “migrated” from the south to the north, and according to the president of the Foundation Nino Cartabellotta, “differentiated autonomy, patients in the South will gradually become ‘customers’ of the Northern regions”.

Screenings halved and cancer deaths affected in the South: Death has become “easier” in the South. Bad services don’t even spare newborns, they don’t even spare newborns. According to the latest available data, the infant mortality rate in Calabria, i.e. in the first year of life, is more than twice that in Tuscany, and in Sicily it is just under twice that. So those who can’t afford it

Salvini and Meloni chose: The bridge is better. 15 billion missing in the south

Between Pnrr’s overhaul, the reduction of funds and the “diversion” of other financing southwards, around 15 billion euros remained short. Meloni and his allies, such as Salvini, prefer one bridge over the others. This intention became clear in the first months of the government, when Palazzo Chigi centralized Pnrr and minister Fitto retained the management of funds destined for the south. For this reason, the Regional Adaptation Agency was closed and merged with Fitto’s “aspira tutto” department.

In the amendment made to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the 7.6 billion euro project for municipalities for energy measures and urban plans in the south was “postponed”. But the real blow is different: In the budget law, the Infrastructure Equalization Fund was cut and reduced from 4.4 billion to 900 million. This fund was created fifteen years ago precisely with the aim of reducing the infrastructural differences between the north and the south in terms of differentiated autonomy.

Meloni and especially Salvini prefer the bridge over the Bosphorus, which is late in terms of transparency and whose announcements we know more than its details. To finance this, 1.6 billion in development and cohesion funds for Sicily and Calabria were directed to the Bridge. This money was used to build and improve roads and railways in the slowest regions of Italy. And then there is De Luca, who wants to condemn Fitto for the 6 billion euros blocked in the new fund program.

The climate is like this, the problems and complications are known. Solutions?

“But I don’t know how to

Yes I have to say this but to whom?

If anyone understands

“There will definitely be someone else like me.”

(Rino Gaetano, For example, I like the south)