The Establishment of a Ministry for the Islands . It was proposed by the Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomy Roberto Calderoli , at the hearing of the parliamentary commission for combating the disadvantages deriving from insularity.
The Northern League representative recalls the measures already taken with the 2023 budget law, which «established a national fund to combat the disadvantages deriving from insularity, with an allocation of 2 million for each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 , finalized to ensure the full implementation of the constitutional principle".
«The law – underlines Calderoli – provides that the allocated resources flow into the fund and indicates the purposes for using the fund. It might be appropriate to evaluate the prospective establishment of a Minister for the Islands as the top body that coordinates the political and administrative initiatives relating to the islands ."
The minister also spoke about smaller islands , underlining how there is a lack of a "regulatory definition" at a national level, something that "should be worked on" .
«Assuming the definition given at European level by Eurostat - added Calderoli - the Italian panorama sees the presence of 79 smaller islands, of which 26 are uninhabited, with a total resident population of 260,666 people . However, we cannot talk about islands as an abstract category, it is necessary to commensurate the interventions with the characteristics of each of them".
The government, Calderoli announced, « is preparing a framework bill for the development of smaller marine, lagoon and lake islands . The scheme will indicate growth measures for the smaller islands, in consideration of their unique value from a naturalistic and environmental point of view, of the traditions and particular cultures that are preserved there".
(Unioneonline/L)