"This morning, during his hearing before the parliamentary commission for combating the disadvantages of insularity, I asked Minister Tommaso Foti how the government intends to implement the constitutional principle of insularity. It's not enough to simply list—as he did in his report—the European or national funds allocated to Southern Italy if we fail to recognize the islands' unique structural characteristics." This was stated by Sardinian Senator Marco Meloni, a member of the Democratic Party.
The Bicameral Insularity Committee, he explains, exists precisely for this purpose: "To translate the principle introduced into the Constitution in 2022 into concrete measures. For this reason, I have urged the Government to finally make the Insularity Fund established in 2022 at the Democratic Party's proposal operational, to support the bill on island specificity stalled in the Chamber of Deputies, and to clarify Italy's position with the European Union on territorial continuity, state aid, transportation, and energy costs. Sardinia and Sicily cannot be treated as just any territories: differentiated tools are needed for education, healthcare, mobility, and development. I have also emphasized the urgency of addressing the impact of the ETS on maritime transport and Sardinian businesses, and the need to guarantee extensions and support to municipalities to complete the NRRP interventions already underway, avoiding leaving projects unfinished and resources blocked."
This was stated by Marco Meloni of the Democratic Party, who emphasized the commitments made by Minister Foti, from his intervention to speed up the progress of the bill on insularity to the announcement of upcoming measures on transportation and the desire to strengthen discussions with Brussels on the strategy for the islands and state aid. "We will monitor compliance with these commitments and the adoption of the resulting measures with specific checks," Meloni assured. "Concrete and rapid action is needed, because the legislature is ending and so far the results are zero: Giorgia Meloni's government and the right-wing majority have done absolutely nothing for the islands in almost four years."
