Cohesion, warning from the President of Tuscany: “The EU must not underestimate importance of funding for regions”

Brussels – “The value of cohesion funds is underestimated. Especially in Italy, these funds are supporting regional policies that give a sense of overcoming development inequalities at a single speed across territories.” These are the words of the President of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, visiting Brussels for two days of institutional meetings with the Executive Vice-President for Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, the Minister for European Affairs, Tommaso Foti, and the Deputy Director-General of DG REGIO, Nicola De Michelis. The talks focused on the allocation of resources for the European Union’s next 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). 

According to the Tuscan regional council, “cohesion policies are one of the most successful operations in the relationship between the EU and its citizens” and therefore “it would be a mistake to burden the regions by returning resources to a large single fund,” which could be used today for defence and tomorrow for other emergencies, explained Giani, in what is both a concern and a warning for the immediate future, as well as a criticism of the budget system. The proposal put forward by the European Commission raises concerns about the risk of cuts to structural funds for cohesion and the common agricultural policy (CAP), compared to the current common budget. 

The two days in Brussels enabled Tuscany to participate in the preparatory phase of the next European budget. With Fitto, the president added, “we found strong agreement on maintaining the direct relationship between cohesion funds and regions,” arguing that “regions such as Tuscany have built significant welfare policies thanks to these resources, from free nurseries for families below a certain income threshold to textbooks and interventions for the most vulnerable people.”

There are two issues to be resolved: on the one hand, Giani explained, it is important to “maintain direct relations between the regions and Brussels in the face of attempts to centralise decision-making and planning at national level,” on the other, “the reduction in funds would be a burden at a time when the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which has provided significant funds in Italy, is coming to an end.” In this sense, the discussions with the interlocutors “led to satisfactory agreements,” according to the president of the Tuscany Region. 

The Councillor for Culture, Youth and Research, Cristina Manetti, also argued that “European funds mean the possibility of putting into practice the most important and innovative policies that the region has developed in recent years,” referring to investments in culture, research, and society in the Tuscany Region. Therefore, it is “important to maintain the relationship between the Tuscany Region, the president, the council, and the European institutions.”