TURIN. In recent days, the presentation of the city of Aerospace, a construction site worth a billion. Yesterday at the Ogr the launch of the Intesa Sanpaolo, Google and Tim project which in the coming years will lead to the opening of the country’s first data centers, the development of two Cloud Regions – Piedmont and Lombardy – and a center of excellence for artificial intelligence and the development of advanced information technology for businesses. A path that will lead to the creation of 30,000 jobs. «The Region is moving with a view to large projects shared with the territory, projects that can act as a lever for economic growth, which is why we have decided to finalize them with ordinary funds from European programming. But also by making available the resources of the NRP: phase 2 has now begun, that of choices and we have what it takes to not waste or waste this opportunity. And we have it because, in the first phase, we listened to and surveyed the needs of the territory ». Alberto Cirio, the president of Piedmont, thus responds to the observations contained in the Rota report presented last Saturday by the Einaudi Foundation.
The researchers speak of the unraveling of the projects, more than three thousand, and of the risk of not spending all the resources that will come from Brussels. It’s really like this?
“The exact opposite is true. If there is one thing I have learned over the years as an MEP, it is the procedures required by the committee to spend EU funds. It has happened to many Italian regions and also to Piedmont. The EU is asking for projects and in recent months we have followed those indications by going to the territory. We did a census and then a map. There is now a range of projects that we can draw on in case of need. And that’s what we did in October and this allowed us to bring 36 million to Piedmont instead of the 11 initially planned ».
But in those three thousand projects there is really everything ….
“Sure, it’s a census. And we have collected these territorial projects that start from the bottom as requested by the EU. Then we sorted them according to the six big flag plans that we have already developed. Now it’s time to choose how we did for aerospace or artificial intelligence. And with this inclusive model it is also possible to identify and build other macro-strands ».
Meaning what?
“We are working on a PNRR on mountain areas in agreement with Uncem. Unfortunately we lost the Olympics. Veneto and Lombardy will have the funds for the modernization of the ski lifts, Piedmont will not. France and Switzerland will also be able to finance the snow economy. The Region wants to try to reduce this financial gap and will use the funds of the NRP for the refurbishment of the ski lifts in the logic of energy saving, environmental sustainability and digitalization ».
Pd and Lev in the Regional Council speak of a management of funds that would reward the municipalities governed by the center-right to the detriment of those in the metropolitan area of Turin mainly led by the center-left.
«On 14 December, together with the mayor of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, we will announce the birth of the control room which, together with the universities, will work to select the flagship projects. A path in which we will also involve the Chambers of Commerce and the Banking Foundations. Projects that will be chosen on the basis of an inclusive logic but also knowing that they will have to act as a driving force for the territory. These are relationships between institutions that will be enriched by the political and personal experiences of myself and of the mayor ».
What does it mean?
«That due to my political background I am closer to the business world. Lo Russo, on the other hand, has a stronger social sensitivity and is close to the third sector. Now that we have to choose and that the rules of engagement compared to the past months are clearer from our comparison, the right recipes can arise to reconcile the restart with the fight against inequalities “.
Will regional controls on the methods of spending the NRP increase?
«We have established by law the regional control body autonomous from politics. The members will be five and will be chosen from among members of the judiciary and retired law enforcement agencies. We want to strengthen the control of legality also to prevent the risk of the manifestation of criminal interests on these substantial European contributions ”.
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