Now Venice is also an island for the Constitution: “Epochal change”
VENICE – For millennia Venice has been an island, or rather a collection of islets. For the Constitution, however, it becomes so only now. As well as the others in the lagoon, as well as in the Veneto region such as those of Polesine, as well as the Italian ones such as Elba or Ischia, just to name a few. No more “constitutionally” islands provided only for Sicily and Sardinia. Each territory bordered by the sea, lagoon or rivers, collected a new constitutional protection, in essence. To announce it is Angelo Zanellato, provincial secretary of the Pd Polesano, who was among the supporters, with the Roman hooks, of the modification of the report linked to the adaptation of the article 119 of the Constitution. “It is an epochal change – he announced – for many national territories, but in particular for those inhabited by lagoons and delta: with this change, everyone, and not only in the south and the main islands of Sardinia and Sicily, will be recognized for the serious and permanent natural disadvantage deriving from its insularity. In three months, the co change can become a reality, bringing thousands of euros from the State from the European Union to our territories for redevelopment projects or measures that can do justice to the objective difficulties. The most visible examples are linked to infrastructures, health and education: there are too many structural deficiencies, such as the closure of schools due to the low number of enrollments, the lack of medical centers in peripheral areas ».
This new constitutional law, which recognizes the same condition for maritime, river, lake and island cities, a similar European measure follows within a few months, aimed at reducing hardship for island citizens. Fundamental changes could also arise for Venice beyond its special law, such as the introduction of less polluting and expensive means of public transport, for Pellestrina, Cavallino, Murano, Burano, Chioggia and many others. The Polesine, from which attention to the modification of the constitutional article started, would see the fate change for Porto Tolle, with its archipelago of three islands: Donzella, Camerini and Ca ‘Venier, as well as for Porto Viro, for the island of Ariano , with Corbola and Taglio di Po. The regional secretary of the Democratic Party, Andrea Martella, also spoke online for this result. “It is important – his words – that a constitutional amendment be followed up, albeit in the final of the legislature, which started from a popular initiative: it will serve to avoid the phase of considering the condition of insularity as a disadvantage, which is for many a precious and privileged prerogative. It will be possible to enhance and protect the historical, cultural, natural and social potential of many territories, which due to their conformation have been barely visible for too long, but for which everyone must compete towards promotion and integration ». The original text of Article 119 of the Constitution contained, in the third paragraph, a reference to the islands that consider disadvantaged realities from a geographical, economic and social point of view, were recipients of special contributions aimed at their enhancement “to provide for specific purposes, and particularly to enhance the South and the Islands, the State by law assigns special contributions to individual Regions ”. The constitutional legislator in 2001 eliminated any reference to insularity, referring exclusively to “territories with lower fiscal capacity per inhabitant”, underpinning the geographical conditions. The most recent amending text provides that the Republic recognizes the particularities of the islands and promotes the necessary measures to remove the disadvantages deriving from insularity.
«The legislative process – says Zanellato – kicks off on 1st May from a report made to me by Ivo Rossi, former mayor of Padua, very attentive to environmental issues. The text, already discussed once in Parliament, seemed suitable to me, but I turned to the regional and national secretariats, senators and parliamentarians to ask for a clarification suitable for defining all the territories delimited by water as islands, not only the two major islands. After the support received from Senator Andrea Ferrazzi and from the Honorable Diego Zardini, on July 28, the Honorable Romina Mura brought to the Chamber the approved request to ratify the principles on which to consider the insularity in Italy ». “When we talk about islands – the words of Mura in the classroom – we are talking about Sardinia and Sicily which are the most important maritime islands, but there are many other maritime islands, as well as river islands, lake islands, island cities, so let’s talk to 8 million Italians who live in different parts of the country, both in the regions with ordinary statute and in those with a special statute. I believe that the inclusion of the principle of insularity in the Constitution would become a condition and also the starting point of a new constituent yard, which puts at the center the role of Italian regionalism in its variants ”.