Insularity and development, Cossa (FI): «Sardinia penalized, EU should review state aid»
For the candidate for the European elections, the island is "crushed by a geographical and energetic distance". The battle ready to reach the European Parliament
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State aid regulations must change. This was underlined by Michele Cossa (FI), Forza Italia candidate for the European elections in the islands constituency , in a post on Facebook . «The idea of bringing the battle of insularity to the European Parliament – continues Cossa – serves exactly this. It is not possible for Sardinia to be assimilated to Bavaria, Lombardy or any rich area of continental Europe. On and off the islands it is more difficult to do anything. They have to come to terms with it. They must understand that geographical distance cannot be bridged by swimming. They must understand that our citizens do not have the same possibilities as those of Rome, Lisbon, Berlin, Vienna or Bucharest. They must understand that our businesses are crushed by the weight of that distance."
Then the reference shifts to the distance which, in the case of the island, is not only geographical but also energetic : «In Sardinia, production (but also citizenship) is heavily penalized by energy costs. Does Europe like competition? Well, we like it a lot too, but not the unfair one."
The island, continues the Forza Italia candidate, «immediately needs new regulations on state aid that allow naturally disadvantaged areas to emerge from the ford. We must put the State in a position to be able to intervene immediately to help citizens and businesses. Excise duties on petroleum products must be used to realign the average energy costs of local production and citizens' bills. We also need a strong tax exemption for Sardinian companies which, due to their position, physically start from a disadvantaged position. How is it possible to have important entrepreneurial ambitions and attract investments to the island if any investor knows from the start that they would invest in non-competitive businesses? And how can the internal market be stimulated, on the other hand, if families and citizens are perpetually disadvantaged by the costs inherent to insularity? We cannot just be the holiday resort of Germans, Dutch or - if you like - "continentals" in general. Our battle for insularity is all here."
(Unioneonline/vf)
