Brussels ready to divert cohesion funds. The regions' bipartisan shield.

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Bavaria snorts, echoed by Veneto, Campania, and Lombardy. Almost all member states, in fact, are opposed to Brussels' initiative to revise the methods of using the Cohesion Funds . This is effectively the only EU instrument directly available to the regions, but it also represents a significant burden on the European Union's coffers: over 390 billion euros for the 2021-2027 period, nearly a third of the overall budget. This is why the second von der Leyen Commission will include structural changes in the multiannual budget proposal, which will be presented on Wednesday. The intention is clear: to increase the power of national governments at the expense of local authorities—implicitly accused of spending the Funds poorly and underspending. "The short circuit is that this will penalize the most virtuous regions," warns the northeastern Europeans. "And ultimately, the ones who will suffer will be our SMEs and the most innovative entrepreneurial projects."

The voice is clear and unified. From Spain to France, from Germany to Italy, from politicians to trade associations. "Hands off the Cohesion Funds," thundered Luca Zaia . "Centralism is a step backwards for Europe: we will defend the virtuous, efficient, and locally rooted regional model." A point of view also echoed via Foglio by Raffaele Boscaini, president of Confindustria Veneto : "We cannot allow this instrument to be transformed into an emergency or centralized fund, losing its connection to the real needs of local production. The Cohesion Funds were designed specifically for the structural growth of SMEs and local communities. The amendment on the Commission's table would defeat their original purpose ."

According to experts, "if the funds are re-purposed, the risk is that virtuous regions will be penalized." In Italy, most of the funding is allocated to the South, but the central and northern regions—which still account for a significant portion of their budgets: €4.4 billion for Lombardy, nearly €3 billion for Veneto —have proven to be the most capable of leveraging them, redeploying them to critical areas such as industrial innovation and energy optimization. Thus, all parties involved are maintaining close contact with Brussels to jointly coordinate possible negotiating action. In this specific case, bipartisan consensus is evident. Not only among the various local governments—in addition to the Northern League strongholds, 15 out of 20 regions responded in unison, including the Democratic Party-led Emilia-Romagna, where Governor Michele De Pascale reiterated his firm "no to any idea of centralizing cohesion policies." Similar resistance has also come from the Five Star Movement, certainly not among the champions of territorial autonomy. "Southern Italy will pay a very high price for the reform planned by the European Commission," declared MEPs Palmisano and Tridico. " The EU intends to eliminate regional funding and opportunities and consolidate them into a single fund, diverting a significant portion of those resources to rearmament . This is an absolute disgrace, and we will fight it at every opportunity."

The Five Star Movement then accuses von der Leyen and Raffaele Fitto , the commissioner responsible for cohesion policy. Yet, relations between Ursula and the Meloni official have apparently soured precisely over the Funds. And according to a report in the American newspaper Politico, Fitto is not at all happy with this initiative, which would represent a diminution of his role and, above all, a problem difficult to justify in Rome. Furthermore, his position would not be isolated within the Commission, especially given the collateral damage that centralism would cause in the most autocratic cases—some are thinking of Orbán, who would thus be free to cut EU funding to Hungarian regions of different political stripes. In short, the debate is open within Ursula's ranks. Negotiations will follow. And it's not a given that the demands of "EUregions4cohesion" will ultimately be ignored : the territorial coalition, supported by 149 European regions from 20 member states, which in recent weeks wrote a joint letter to von der Leyen – with Fitto in copy – to backtrack on the Cohesion Funds. It is Europe that is asking Europe to do this .

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