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Piernicola Pedicini asks Commissioner for more action in Southern Italy
EFA MEP Piernicola Pedicini urged Elisa Ferreira, the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, to intervene and control how Italy applies the cohesion policy.
Pedicini MEP described the situation in Southern Italy, alertin the Commissioner of the increasing gap between South Italy and the rest of the European Union and depopulation affecting the southern parts of Italy harder than anywhere else in Europe.
"South Italy a territory that is still more populated than Greece, with more habitants than Sweden, a territory that, however, is depopulating at a vertiginous pace that unmatched by any other member state in the European Union." MEP Pedicini said.
Piernicola also highlighted the link between depopulation and poverty and how the funding in Italy is being removed from low-income areas and invested in the country's most affluent regions.
"But depopulation is concentrated where there is poverty and, despite the cohesion policy, the greatest gap is concentrated in Southern Italy comparing to the rest of the country and to the rest of Europe." MEP Pedicini stressed.
Piernicola Pedicini concluded by asking the Commissioner for action and intervention so the cohesion policy can be fruitful in the South of Italy.
"The point is that it is useless to allocate more and more European resources to disadvantaged areas if the Member State is free to cancel ordinary spending from those same territories."
"I ask you, is the European Commission intervening? Can intervene? Can it control? Because this is what we must reflect on, this is what we must intervene on." MEP Pedicini concluded
