Sardinia is increasingly distant from Europe, with its many available resources becoming useless without implementing specific island policies regarding freight and energy transport. And more: freight transport, depopulation, and energy.
These issues were the focus of the meeting promoted by Confindustria Sardegna and Confindustria Sicilia with the MEPs of the Islands constituency, in Palermo, at Palazzo d'Orléans, in the presence of Sicilian Governor Renato Schifani.
"The event," Confindustria explains, "was designed to strengthen the dialogue between the islands' production system and European institutions. It was an important opportunity to discuss future EU policies and the measures needed to strengthen the competitiveness of island regions."
During the morning, the future of European cohesion policy and new EU programming tools were explored in depth, as well as the prospects for funding European competitiveness, research, and innovation.
The central moment was the debate with the MEPs and representatives of the industrial associations Confindustrie of the Islands constituency, which allowed the main needs of the production system to be brought to the attention of the European institutions.
"We have stressed the urgency of adopting a new strategy for the islands by the end of the year," stated Alberto Cellino and Andrea Porcu, President and Director of Confindustria Sardegna, respectively. "Our businesses are now exhausted by unsustainable freight and energy costs. Cohesion policy funds for Sardinia must be allocated primarily to ensuring the competitiveness of Sardinian businesses, which are increasingly lagging behind those of other European regions." They concluded, reiterating the need for the European Union to fully recognize the island status through dedicated policies and tools capable of compensating for the structural disadvantages resulting from geographical distance from the main continental markets.
At the end of the meeting, Confindustria Sardegna and Confindustria Sicilia presented EU parliamentarians with their candidacy to host an international conference on the Mediterranean economy in Cagliari.