Having concluded the work in the Commission on autonomy, the general discussion should begin today. It seems like we need to take note of this. Yet, on the pure and simple opportunity of offering the impetus for the most rapid definition of the Calderoli Reform on Differentiated Autonomy for the Regions with Ordinary Statute, one could, perhaps, argue at length in consideration of the imposing legal, administrative and, last but not least, of a human nature, linked to its implementation especially in reference to the so-called Insular Regions, such as Sardinia.
Remembering what was the excursus of the procedure that led to the modification of article 119 of the Constitution, it is worth remembering that the European Parliament, only on 4 February 2016, resolved itself in the sense of approving a Resolution with which had formally recognized the insular status of Sicily and Sardinia. And considered in and of itself, the circumstance, also in consideration of its, so to speak, European character, had seemed, and would seem, to be anything but of little consequence.
First of all, because through such recognition the aim was to obtain simplified access, so to speak, to the cohesion programs defined pursuant to Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Therefore, why, at that moment, i.e. in the year 2016, the Italian Constitution did not contain any explicit reference to the so-called principle of insularity, rather speaking only in terms of the specialty with reference to Sicily and Sardinia. Finally, because the reference Constitutional Law concluded its process only on 28 July 2022 with the title indicated below: "Amendment to Article 119 of the Constitution, concerning the recognition of the peculiarities of the Islands and the overcoming of the disadvantages deriving from insularity ”. So no question. If only it weren't that to this day, despite the recognition that has taken place, it still remains to be clarified whether, in concrete terms, the formal goal achieved in national internal law can contribute to some extent to making the use of the Union's economic resources more agile. European Union and, again, in what way (provided it is compatible), to what extent, and on the basis of which parameters, the recognition in domestic law of the principle of "insularity" can coincide (and it does not appear to) with the interest pursued by the Reform Calderoli.
