The law on differentiated autonomy is poorly made, betrays the purposes of decentralization and deprives the central state of responsibility. These are some of the reasons presented during the initiative “Against differentiated autonomy. Signing today is important, voting and making others vote tomorrow is decisive. The many reasons to say yes to the Referendum”, organized by the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità today, Tuesday 17 September at the headquarters of the Basso Foundation in Rome.
A day of signature collection, during which to collect in-depth material and discuss with the ForumDD, with two moments of discussion (one at 11.00 and the other at 17.30) with several authoritative guests and representatives of active citizenship organizations.
“As the Inequalities and Diversity Forum, we have many reasons to argue that the law on differentiated autonomy is terrible and can cause serious damage to the country,” observe the co-coordinators of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum Andrea Morniroli and Fabrizio Barca.
“First of all, it does not guarantee in any way to citizens that autonomy will be attributed to their Region only if it is capable of increasing the effectiveness of public action, because the text lacks criteria and indicators for evaluation. Furthermore, it can seriously jeopardize the universal nature and equality of fundamental services, depriving the State of responsibility at a national level”.
“And again: it does not offer adequate guarantees of equalization in favor of Regions with lower per capita taxes, creating the basis for worsening the division of the country in terms of quality of services, in defiance of Articles 2 and 53 of the Constitution. And the Lep, in the absence of “greater burdens” or ensuring “financial invariance”, are not a guarantee”.
“Finally: it creates additional bureaucratic obstacles for the protection of work and the action of multi-regional companies; it weakens the capacity for coordination at the national level and participation in interventions on a European scale; it incites competition between Regions, first and foremost to grab personnel for education and health with serious damage to the National Health Service. In short, it implements decentralization by betraying its purpose: improving the well-being of citizens”.
As for the deep regional gaps that differentiated autonomy risks worsening, educational inequalities stand out. In terms of economic resources, in recent years in Italy, already at the bottom of the European rankings in terms of investments in education compared to its economy, there has been a progressive disinvestment from the education sector, which has affected especially the southern regions (CPT data on sectoral public spending 2000-2020 – Education Sector, April 2023): between 2008 and 2020, minus 19.5% in the South, over 8 percentage points more than the Center-North (-11.2%). The differential to the detriment of the South in investment spending is even more marked, falling by almost a third against “only” 23% in the rest of the country.
A key indicator for understanding educational inequalities is school dropout: in Italy, despite the decreasing trend, one in ten young people aged between 18 and 24 (10.5%) dropped out of school early (Eurostat 2023 data). And the territorial gaps are wide: the Southern regions and the Islands have levels of school dropout among the highest in the European context, with an Early School Leavers (ESL) rate of 17.3% for Sardinia, 17.1% for Sicily and 16% for Campania (Istat, BES Report 2023, 2024). The picture is completed by the percentage of children and adolescents in absolute poverty, which in Italy exceeds 14%, with an incidence of 11.4% in the Centre and 16.1% in the South (ISTAT 2022).
During the initiative, the in-depth note was also distributed “Differentiated autonomy and inequalities in access to services”published by ForumDD last July and edited by Mariella Volpe, economist and member of the ForumDD Assembly, which presents three focuses on the most sensitive sectors, subject to potential greater risks deriving from the impact of the law, namely healthcare, education and assistance to non-self-sufficient elderly people.
The picture of healthcare and elderly care shows how the northern regions run the same risks of healthcare desertification as the southern ones, almost all of which are extremely weak in territorial care. For example, data from the AHEAD Report by Cittadinanzattiva show that Asti and its province have fewer pediatricians per number of children than the national average (1813 children per professional versus a national average of 1061, with the law requiring around 800). In the province of Bolzano, each general practitioner treats an average of 1539 citizens versus the national average of 1245 and with the law setting the ratio at 1/1500. With differentiated autonomy, Lombardy could pay its doctors more, and if Piedmont, which is poorer, were unable to emulate it, it would find itself having to deal with a further shortage of doctors.
With respect to care for the non-self-sufficient elderly, differentiated autonomy deprives Italy of any hope of a unitary reform in the sector, awaited for 20 years, in a country that today invests much less than many other EU countries in long-term care: 10.1% of the entire public health expenditure compared to 26.3% in Sweden, 24.8% in the Netherlands, 24.3% in Belgium, 18.2% in the United Kingdom and 16.3% in Germany.
In addition to the long list of prominent figures who spoke at the two discussions, the secretary Elly Schlein and the coordinator of the Democratic Party secretariat Marta Bonafoni, the director Andrea Segre, Carlo Borgomeo, former president of Fondazione con il Sud, and Luca Bianchi, director of Svimez, also declared their support for the referendum during the day organized by the Forum.
At 11:00 the debate “The many reasons to say yes to the Referendum” was held, coordinated by Andrea Morniroli with Fabrizio Barca, Co-coordinator of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum, Serenella Caravella, SVIMEZ Researcher, Marco Esposito, Journalist, Il Mattino and Elena Granaglia, Economist and member of the Coordination of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum.
“This is a complex matter and in transmitting it to others we risk losing the core of the issue: residency has become a factor that produces more or less rights,” said Marco Esposito, a journalist at Il Mattino. “Italy is not a differentiated country but rather a divided and fragmented one, a country in which the two main dimensions of citizenship – education and healthcare – are very different from territory to territory. Differentiated autonomy introduces elements that could exacerbate the gaps even more,” commented Serenella Caravella, SVIMEZ Researcher.
At 5:30 pm the meeting “Why is differentiated autonomy against Article 3 of the Constitution and is harmful to the country? The commitment of civics and associations against differentiated autonomy”. Speakers: Gaetana Castellaccio, Dedalus Social Cooperative, Stefano Ciafani, President of Legambiente, Celeste Costantino, Vice-President of the Una Nessuna Centomila Foundation, Marco De Ponte, General Secretary of ActionAid, Franco Ippolito, President of the Basso Foundation, Francesco Marsico, Councilor of the MESSINA Foundation, Simone Menichetti, President of UISP Rome, Francesca Moccia, Vice-Secretary General of Cittadinanzattiva. Coordinator: Silvia Vaccaro, member of the Coordination of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum.
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