Municipalities in revolt against the government and 1.25 billion in cuts. “Absurd decision, stop them”

Cry of alarm from local administrators. Anci and Upi Emilia Romagna on the front line. With them Bonaccini: "It's an incomprehensible sabotage"

BOLOGNA – Municipalities and local authorities in revolt against the government over the Mef’s announcement of cuts estimated at 1.25 billion to be paid by them. “Stop, let’s stop them” is the cry of alarm from the Union of the Provinces (Upi) of Emilia-Romagna which follows hand in hand with that of theAnci strong>, National Association of Italian Municipalities. In particular, Anci, through the voice of the president Antonio Decaro, labels as “absurd, paradoxical”, unreasonable” the decision to distribute the cuts from the spending review “striking the most to those Municipalities and Provinces which have benefited most from the Pnrr funds”.

“IN 2023 CUTS FOR 250 MILLION EUROS, 1.25 BILLION UNTIL 2028”

Ultimately, the Mef’s decision for Decaro “contradicts the spirit and purposes of the Pnrr and puts the management of public works at risk”. The parameter for assigning cuts to individual local authorities, reported in the draft implementing decree prepared by the Ministry of Economy and anticipated in theSole 24 Ore of 25 May. In practice, half of the cuts are measured in proportion to the Pnrr resources assigned to each administration at the end of 2023. “this year, the bill borne by Municipalities, Cities and Provinces is 250 million, but it is part of a treatment that is worth 1.25 billion until 2028”.

MASSARI (UPI): “IF PNRR FAILS, THE COUNTRY WILL DERAIL, STOP THEM”

For Upi, its president Andrea Massari, who is also mayor of Fidenza and number one in the Province of Parma, speaks, echoing the same concerns. “The emerging scenario says that the substantial part of the reductions in funds “will hit hardest” the local authorities that have received more Pnrr projects and resources Well, “if the Government doesn’t stop it will make a devastating mistake for the country”, warns the president of ‘Upi which invites administrators and parliamentarians of all colors to join the demonstration. “I believe that such a threat requires all administrators, of any persuasion, to mobilize to raise awareness among parliamentarians in their territories to stop this madness. Four years after the onset of the pandemic, we administrators are all working to collect every single euro that Europe, thanks to the Pnrr, is making available to us. Resources that we are investing in the future and which are indispensable for services and structures for kindergartens, nursery schools, high schools, sports facilities, social and healthcare facilities, in addition to the indispensable interventions on the environment and mobility”, lists Massari. “The great part of these investments would never, I repeat never, have seen the light if we had not had the Pnrr available”, he points out, recalling that “without this extraordinary investment plan our country would enter a stalemate”. Municipalities and Provinces, continues Massari, ” they have worked and are working with commitment and effort to guarantee these interventions to the community. We work to do it well and quickly and I can guarantee that it is a very complicated daily obstacle course. But we are succeeding.Cutting current resources now means killing off projects that have already been started and in some cases already concluded”. It means preparing for “yet another numerous cathedrals in the desert” , denounces, taking up the similar fears expressed on the same topic by the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein “It must then be explained to parliamentarians – insists Massari – that the Municipalities and Provinces are adding their own resources to each project to support the increased costs due to the high cost of raw materials and energy. It must be explained that increases in current resources are necessary for new services and instead we are thinking of even cutting existing ones.” Ultimately, “If the Pnrr fails, the country will derail. Stop. Let’s stop them”, urges the UPI president.

BONACCINI: “IT’S AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE SABOTAGE“

Even important administrators join the protest of Anci and Upi Emilia Romagna, precisely from the same Region, the governor Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Democratic Party, does not hesitate to speak of real sabotage. “I have the feeling – send to sire – that someone wants to sabotage the success of the Pnrr from within, causing Italy to lose a mountain of billions”. For Bonaccini, cutting resources to the Municipalities that are spending the most Pnrr funds “is, even before being wrong, truly incomprehensible” because “it affects precisely those Municipalities and Provinces that are most engaged in this titanic effort “. His hope is that they will proceed “to correct it immediately, as they had to do for other recent measures, announced and then withdrawn”.

GUALTIERI: “FOR ROME IT IS A CUT OF 81 MILLION EUROS IN 5 YEARS”

Moving from Emilia Romagna to the capital, the music does not change. Even for the mayor Roberto Gualtieri “the spending review for the Municipalities is a wrong measure which adds to the failure to compensate for the 10 percent increase in all direct and indirect costs and risks being passed on to the services and on the weakest citizens”. And the mayor himself takes into account the “loss”: “For Rome it is a cut of 81 million in 5 years. Together with the failure to compensate for the effects of inflation, equal to at least 60 million, it means a contraction in spending capacity of up to 140 million”. A mistake therefore “the government should think again”, finally says Gualtieri.