He is the man Forza Italia is aiming for at the European Championships in the Sardinia-Sicily constituency. Marco Falcone, 53 years old, lawyer, is married to Patrizia and father of two children. Councilor for Economy since 2022, he has been a FI deputy in the Sicilian Regional Assembly for four legislatures and was councilor for Infrastructure and Mobility from 2017 to 2022.
Mr Falcone, with what objectives are you running for the European Parliament?
«We accepted the invitation of Forza Italia and the national secretary Antonio Tajani because the European elections will be decisive, they will design the new EU political structure in an exceptional historical moment. There are many unknowns at an international level, of course, but also enormous opportunities. We need a balanced vision and perspective. We want to make the voice of the Italian Islands heard loudly, expressing that culture of doing typical of FI and which has distinguished us in these years of good governance in Sicily. Hence our claim, For the Europe of facts".
Sardinia and Sicily, on continuity and transport, require common battles.
"There is no doubt. We must make the principle of defense of insularities an increasingly shared heritage at European level. Only in this way will we intervene in the best possible way, filling the gaps and generating economies of scale, in Cagliari as in Palermo, in harmony with what the citizens want."
Portuality. Will you fight to make the Islands competitive in the freight sector?
«In the five-year period as regional councilor for Infrastructure, among other things, we have put the small and large ports of Sicily at the center of government action. We know the needs of the Mediterranean market and networks well. Now they must be aligned with inputs from the EU, inserting local prerogatives into a context of global strategies."
In Sicily, is the Bridge over the Strait really a viable idea or is it just propaganda?
«Let's stick to the facts: the Meloni Government has recovered the work destroyed by the left and put it back on track. Now there is a definitive project and the expropriation process. To the policies of the ideological "no", with which we have clashed for many years, we contrast the Italy of action. The Bridge is an epochal infrastructure and will give us prestige throughout the world."
And, in Sardinia, important inland areas do not have rail connections.
«Unfortunately there is a delay. We found the same situation in Sicily in 2017, at our Infrastructure installation. The solution is patient administrative and political work. Carry out investments and projects, giving voice to the territory in the appropriate places. We will do it in Europe, also in the interests of Sardinia."
Wind turbines and photovoltaics, Sardinia is under siege. If this were the case, the much-lauded green change does not seem to bring any advantages.
«Policies imposed from above, even if based on environmental sustainability, never work. The EPP, as reported in the Bucharest manifesto, will be the standard bearer of an ecological transition which must be both balanced and anchored to the needs of the territory."
The cut in Pnrr funding has not done any good here.
«The national government has given clear indications that no project will remain without funds».
The two islands are also at similar levels in terms of poverty. What can Europe do?
«There are many tools, starting with the European Social Fund. An indispensable lever that the EU places in the hands of the Regions to support employment and reduce segments of fragility. We must work to make the projects increasingly suited to the needs of our Islands."
The European Championships, for the Sardinian centre-right, are a chance for redemption after the debacle of the Regionals. It will be?
«We think so. The Sardinian result has been widely analyzed and understood. The majority of the electorate looks to the centre-right with Forza Italia being the "permanent center of gravity", as Secretary Tajani says, of the coalition and of Italian politics".
His idea of insularity, a concept accepted in the Constitution but not yet implemented in practice.
«Social and political achievements mature over time. Having the principle of insularity in the Constitution is a milestone. Now we need to defend it, in Italy as in Europe, and build an adequate regulatory reality around it, as well as structural compensatory measures."
