Telosaes.it

"As President of the Province, I have to govern the legislative and administrative complexity of almost all the sectors in the public sphere. However, the role of President of the Region is radically different because it is geared towards helping coordinate the two Autonomous Provinces, on the one hand, and handling regional issues, on the other."

Telos: Just as the English “premier” is not provided for – neither in name nor in his powers and roles – under the Italian Constitution, likewise governors find no place in our political framework. In Italy, the only one who can boast this title is the governor of the Bank of Italy.
Although not quite accurate and a reflection of how American terms have taken over the Italian media, don’t you think that the use of this word, politically and institutionally speaking, refers to someone who, according to the word’s Latin meaning of ‘guide, ruler,’ governs with great political responsibility?

Arno Kompatscher: The role of the President of the Region and of the Autonomous Province entails significant political and institutional responsibility, both in terms of the legislative and administrative competences attributed to regional/provincial administrations and because the regional/provincial executive committees are closer to citizens’ problems.
This is especially true for the Autonomous Provinces because their prerogatives are comparable to those of a small state. In our areas, people’s expectations are very high.
Here, there is the widespread awareness that “autonomy” is not just synonymous with greater powers, but with greater responsibility. So, our challenge is to live up to these expectations by not being self-referential and offering innovative and effective public policies that openly confront the big issues.
This is why, although it may not be the correct institutional term, I think the word “governor” reflects what we really are.

The breakdown in the party system has likely been the source of people’s widespread anti-political sentiment. And yet this gap between citizens and politics is not nearly as wide at the local level. Do you think people are still passionate about politics?

At the local level, the fact that electors are closer to their elected politicians certainly contributes to easing anti-political sentiment, even though this is a time in history when things are very complicated from this point of view. There are many reasons for this.
One thing that has certainly had a decisive impact is the breakdown in the party system, no longer seen as a forum for discussion, dialogue and analysis.
But there are also other reasons. Just think about the political system and its decision-making logic, which is becoming more and more self-referencing, or the rift that has developed in the last 10-15 years between the Institutions and society.
Not to mention how little consideration is given to competences, which should instead form the basis of political and institutional activity.
The hope is that this tendency is reversed, and political parties indeed play a key role in this, albeit they need to deeply change how they function.

You have a very unique role. In fact, you are President of both the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and of the Trentino-Alto Adige Region. Could you explain the difference between these two roles and their competences?

The main differences lie in the different legislative and administrative powers of these two Entities under the Italian Constitution (the Statute of Autonomy).
The Autonomous Province of Bolzano has primary competence in the majority of matters regulating the economic and social life of citizens, whereas the Region only has competence in fewer matters, including the most important one: the supplementary pension scheme.
The Autonomous Provinces have almost exclusive competence in administrative matters. So, as President of the Province, I have to govern the legislative and administrative complexity of almost all the sectors in the public sphere.
Yet the role of President of the Region is radically different because it is geared towards coordinating the two Autonomous Provinces, on the one hand, and creating a strategy to handle regional issues, such as public shareholdings in some limited companies, on the other.

2020: No one really expected to have to face an emergency like the one created by Covid-19. All over the world, the relationship between central and local government has become a source of great institutional tension. In Italy, on innumerable occasions, there has been conflict between the Central and Regional government, yet these occasions have multiplied and become more evident with the handling of the pandemic. How much of this is related to the healthcare emergency and how much to pre-existing problems? And what can we do to overcome it?

There is no question that the handling of the Covid-19 emergency brought a variety of problems to a head regarding the relationship between State and Regional governments, also because – from a legal point of view – we found ourselves facing questions and problems that were entirely new and highly controversial.
However, the conflict between State and Regions goes back much further and became especially heated after the 2001 Reform of Title V of the Italian Constitution and the ensuing constitutional jurisprudence. In terms of autonomous powers, the s.c. cross-sectoral competences made the legal framework more complex and certainly did not help promote our special competences. As Autonomous Provinces, to shore up our prerogatives, we must continue to strengthen the tool of implementing measures by offering innovative solutions that emphasise our uniqueness and traditional governing ability.
From a wider perspective, I think the time has come to devise a new overall Reform for Title V, underpinned by a revamped meaning of the subsidiarity principle, which should not be construed as competence centralisation, but also and mainly as strengthening the local dimension.

Marco Sonsini