In recent days, according to what has been learned from the press, the work of the Territorial Cohesion and Budget Commission of the European Union of the Committee of the Regions took place and Christian Solinas, as president of the Sardinia Region and full member, would have heard approve some of his amendments on the implementation of the principle of insularity.

Such amendments would have the object of "strengthening" the "territorial dimension of cohesion policy, in favor of greater convergence of territories which would allow the permanent structural disadvantages linked to insularity to be overcome". And among the objectives to be achieved there would be the adoption, by the European Commission, of a strategy dedicated to the Islands to be implemented through a systematic collection of aggregate territorial data which could constitute a prodromal factor for a specific approach for the so-called island regions.

Well. Apart from the consideration that, even if we want to ignore the initiatives undertaken even by this Regional Government, for years now we have been trying to pursue the right "alignment" in terms of rights and, if I may say so, among the European island regions, nothing question: if the initiative, in fact, and let's be clear on the point, manages to materialize in concrete and decisive interventions, i.e. suitable to eliminate any critical issues due to the importance that the cohesion policies of the European Union would be directed, at least on a paper level, both to reduce development disparities between the regions of the Member States and to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion useful for guaranteeing sustainable and, as much as possible, inclusive growth.

And if it is true, as it is true, that such a "union" political direction must pay special attention to all those situations which present serious and permanent natural and demographic disadvantages, such as the Sardinian reality, however, to date, in the European context, and probably not only in that, there seems to have been a lack, on a practical level, of some initiative potentially and effectively aimed at bridging the different reasons for disadvantage. It would probably be necessary, even before it is appropriate, to involve Parliament, precisely on a proactive level, and in an even more incisive manner, since the latter, contrary to what one would probably be led to believe, is called upon to play a rather active and incisive precisely in supporting the reasons for strengthening the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the European Union, if only we consider that all the legislation concerning the cohesion policy itself and the Structural Funds would be, as in fact it is, prepared, and even before that elaborated , through the ordinary legislative procedure, in the context of which the powers of the Parliament (and this is anything but to be underestimated) are made equal to those of the Council, with every relevant consequence on the decision-making level.

Meanwhile, because every initiative relating to the implementation of the concept of insularity should be correctly included within the scope of the EU/Italy Partnership Agreement approved on 19 July 2022, which, in truth, should have defined, as in fact it seems to have defined, the strategic framework and the systematic preparation of the intervention objectives on which the interventions prepared by the European Cohesion Funds will in fact focus.

Therefore, because, as far as is known, the "Partnership Agreement" would find its founding reason on the achievement of five "Objectives", so to speak strategic, aimed at defining the contours: 1) of a more competitive Europe through the promotion of every initiative aimed at leading an economic transformation in an innovative and competitive sense; 2) of a "greener" Europe through the promotion of a transition towards clean and fair energy; 3) of a more "connected" Europe through the strengthening of mobility and regional connectivity; 4) of a deliberately social and inclusive Europe, to be achieved through the valorisation, and consequent implementation, of the European Pillar of Social Rights; 5) of a Europe closer to citizens through the promotion of integrated growth of urban, rural and coastal areas and local initiatives.

Objectives that are certainly ambitious at present for not having been fully achieved (at least that is the impression one gets from them), but, all things considered, ordinary in terms of effects, which, consequently, far from placing themselves on the level of exceptionality, they should have immediately represented normality. Time will allow us to appreciate the way in which the amendments of President Solinas approved last will be included in the development program of the island realities in order to then be able to find the implementation methodology in concrete terms, i.e. on a territorial geographical level.

Saying it differently: talking in terms of cohesion may appear simple, but it is when we have to go beyond the dialogical and discursive level to move on to the implementation level that all the pressing critical issues emerge, and, probably, the reasons for the comparison should rather be concentrated rather than on the "need" to be achieved, i.e. cohesion between territories, on the "modalities" useful for overcoming the impeding factors since the "need" is known, while the "modus operandi" for its prompt and responsible implementation probably still does not appear to be correctly defined . And, if being maximally pro-European is a duty, being Sardinian/Europeanist should perhaps be almost an imperative if idealized with a view to obtaining greater power of representation and intervention of the Sardinia Region in European decision-making dynamics.

Saying it differently, and more clearly, the objective for Sardinia should be at least twofold: achieving the establishment of the single constituency of Sardinia for the European elections in such a way as to "disconnect" (use the colloquial expression) the Sardinian reality from the more incisive dynamics of the Sicilian college; realize the need to guarantee the representativeness of Sardinia within the European Parliament, several times precluded by the Sicilian prevalence, without wanting to take anything away from the Sicilians themselves.

It would then be appropriate, and still, to start from a basic observation beyond any good purpose which seems to have finally been substantiated with the recently approved amendments: the Sardinian social and economic situation deriving from the territorial discontinuity with the Italian peninsula and with the rest of the European continent it does not seem to have been overcome to this day precisely in the context of what should have been qualified as a process of European integration, due to the lack, although it is unclear how, of the preparation of every necessary community initiative in this sense. Where it was still not sufficiently clear, it would seem that the same regional autonomy, up to now mortified in its expressive potential, could even find its pivot and implementation point precisely in the European context, within which, if carefully considered, and at least on a regulatory level, we would be prepared to achieve any useful recognition of the permanent and structural disadvantages of the island regions. The fate of the Island could be decided "today" and there would appear to be no further time to pass in inertia.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore

(Lawyer – Nuoro)

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