Even the Elders are now retreating. Favorite Rich Areas

The differentiated autonomy demanded by Veneto and Lombardy endangers public finances. Not only. If the skills to be transferred from the central administrations to the provinces can be financed through the mechanism of participation in state taxes, then the “richer” provinces will have excess resources at the expense of all others.

The alert is not new. But this time, the “wise men” themselves are appointed by the Minister of Regional Affairs Roberto Calderoli to the so-called Clip Commission, the body chaired by the jurist Sabino Cassese that “assists” the government in the path that should lead to the differentiated autonomy demanded by the rich northern regions. In recent days, after insistent requests from parliament, the committee has sent to the Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee all documents with reflections and conclusions of the work of the nine subgroups into which the 56 experts appointed by the government have been divided.

documents
And it is precisely the documentation of “subgroup 9” called for dealing with “coordination of public finances” that is of greatest concern. Also given the authority of the members: outgoing Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Fiesco, Accountant General of the State, Biagio Mazzotta, Chairman of the Technical Committee for Standards Requirements (and member of the delegation dealing with the autonomy of the Veneto), Elena D’Orlando, President of Anvur Antonio Felice Auricchio and Andrea Giovanardi , member of the Technical Committee for Standard Requirements, one of the main theorists of the Venetian autonomy (also part of the delegation that deals with the transportation of materials with the Italian state). The former President of the Constitutional Court, Franco Gallo, also belonged to the subgroup, but he resigned from the controversial CLEP at the beginning of the summer along with former Minister Franco Passanini, Honorary President of the Council of State Alessandro Bagno and former Prime Minister Giuliano Amato.

Here is what Calderoli’s “wise men” write in their conclusions. «If the Lep (basic levels of services that must be ensured in all regions, ed.) is financed through the mechanism of joint participation, over time there will be an imbalance between the available resources and the spending needs of the regions (that is, the resources will be excessive in the regions characterized by the dynamism of the tax base and revenue Higher, which poses risks to the overall financial fit)”. Let’s try to explain better. Suppose that the state “transferred” education to Veneto or Lombardy. In addition to skills, the resources necessary to manage it must also be transferred: to pay teachers and auxiliary staff, to ensure the transfer of pupils and gymnasiums And canteens. In short, the state should transfer the money it is currently spending on this function to the regions. How? The “autonomous” project envisions the transfer of part of the state taxes, for example a share of Irpef or VAT. For simplicity, let’s assume that the state spends 100 In Veneto on education and that 100 equals, for example, 10% of the Irpef collected among Veneto citizens.In order to finance education, then, Veneto can keep 10% of the Irpef accumulated in the region. But what happens if, in the following year, Veneto citizens declare more taxes than the previous year? This 10% will no longer be equal to 100, but let’s say 110. Who will those extra 10 go to, the state or the territory? This is the question that remains unanswered in Calderoli’s project and that also worried Clep’s “subgroup 9”.

the passage
There is a reason this point is crucial: it risks jeopardizing public finances. Calderoli’s bill, which we read in the CLEP documents, “does not spell out the mechanics of the following years (Will the same percentage of participation be maintained? With the possibility, on the one hand, that the resources are insufficient, or on the other, that additional charges for resources, in either case with increasing costs to the state budget). In short, the financial mechanism based on the differentiated autonomy that the northern regions demand is not working. For this, the sub-group concluded that “it will be necessary to ensure the effective minimization and management of fiscal risks and to ensure that, in the short and long term, all departments contribute the part for which they are responsible for achieving the objectives of the budget determined by the national economic policy as a whole.” Otherwise, the danger that led to the resignations of Pasanini, Amato, Gallo and Baino could materialize. In other words, in order to ensure autonomy, the state must then keep its budget in equilibrium and maintain debt tolerance, by cutting expenditures that have been chosen not to define Lep, such as pensions or public safety.

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