Brussels – Hands off cohesion funds! On the use of EU resources earmarked for the revitalisation of territories, the president of the Sardinia Region, Alessandra Todde, wants to set the record straight with the European Commission and the Italian government. “I am extremely concerned about the fact that the cohesion funds, fundamental for the development of the regions, may be used for other policies, especially for rearmament“, she punctuates on the sidelines of the work of the European Committee of the Regions (COR), meeting in plenary session.
The president of the Sardinia Region thus censures the decision to provide for the possibility of a “levy” from the community budget to finance heavy industry. It is true that there are no obligations and that national governments are still given freedom of choice, but already recognising the possibility of drawing on resources designed for the good of the local economy “still leaves the door open” to using money in a way that Todde personally does not agree with.
Hence, the hope that the majority parties in Italy will make good on their promises not to support the defence industry with cohesion money, as pointed out by Foreign Minister and leader of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, and guaranteed directly by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I hope this government knows the situation the country is in well” and that “the path that will be followed will be not to use cohesion funds for defence.”
Todde stresses the importance of continuing to work to enable regions, including the Sardinia she governs, to grow and recover the gap that separates them from more competitive realities and eliminate once and for all “the inequalities” that mark many, too many, local realities.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
