From Riace to Gallipoli, from Bagheria to Scilla: these are not the destinations of a coveted Covid free summer between sea and culture, but are just some of the more than 400 local authorities at risk of financial collapse. The Five Star Movement raised the alarm with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Deputy Minister of the Mef Laura Castelli in the front row. Small municipalities mostly have between one thousand and ten thousand inhabitants – mainly in Southern Italy with Calabria and Campania at the top. But there are studies that speak of nearly 800 entities on the verge of potential bankruptcy, 10% of the total. Entities that today – in full social crisis due to the effects of the pandemic – should rewrite their budget, to address the need to speed up the process of returning liquidity advances, after the repeal – by the constitutional court – of the law which identified an anti-instability solution, a decision, according to Castelli, which puts many entities in crisis, which in the vast majority of cases have to manage the repayment of the debt generated by previous administrations. Hence the urgency, to immediately convene “a table” with the representatives of the majority who deal with local authorities, underlines the deputy minister, urging “a pact between institutions” for a realistic and diluted return path over time. The pressing of the 5 Stars aims to insert the municipal-saving measure in the first useful measure, solving the critical issues raised by the Constitutional Court. A path to increase the Fund to support municipalities in structural deficit, provided for by the August decree and perfected in the Budget Law, and then continue with the transfer of resources to municipalities to encourage investments and allow them to restart, with new projects and initiatives that can have an immediate impact on the community and on the territory.
