Just a few days before Christmas, the Italian Senate approved the so-called legge di stabilità (Stability Law), which focuses on the government’s budget for 2015. It will be a year of sacrifices, but there are a few positive elements to keep in mind.
Once again, the Italian government has recognized the importance of all Italians living abroad by including a last-minute financial commitment for this year. Up to 3 million euro will be spent to promote Italian language and culture abroad. More specifically, the money will be used to support those organizations committed to teaching Italian language and culture. This is a very important result that will avoid any interruption of the hard work done so far by our consular network and the many groups and organizations dedicated to teaching Italian all across the world.
Another positive measure, which had been in the original bill from the start after being approved by the Senate Balance committee, will funnel 2.5 million euro to Italian chambers of commerce around the globe. The money will be vital to keep resources going for all those chambers that have launched programs helping small- and medium-sized Italian businesses spread their messages and products outside of the country. We must never forget that these businesses are the very heart and soul of our beloved “Made in Italy” products. We should support them any way we can.
These 5.5 million euro are extremely important to keep alive the efforts put in place by so many. We know how vital it is, for example, to have more students enroll in AP Italian courses. If we are able to keep a constant flow of funds, this will bring outstanding results, with more students getting involved and wanting to build a strong and lasting relationship with Italy.
My colleagues elected abroad and I were able to secure half a million euro more than last year for programs and activities of Italians abroad; a small but significant success that we hope is a sign of better days ahead.
There remain, however, a few disappointing issues that the government has decided to ignore for now. These are decisions that leave us perplexed and which we senators elected abroad hope to receive an explanation for.
Among those proposals not inserted in the bill were a 1 million euro refinancing effort for all assistance activities — both direct and indirect — benefiting those Italians abroad living in poverty; 200,000 euro to operate the Consiglio Generale degli Italiani all’Estero (the General Council of Italians living abroad); 200,000 euro for the National Museum of Italian Emigration in Rome; 500,000 euro to bolster the contributions to Italian language press abroad; and 555,000 euro for the activities of the Dante Alighieri Society. It should be noted that all of these measures had already been negotiated and agreed upon with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Another amendment we proposed included a change to article 11 of law n. 152, March 30, 2001, which would formalize — in experimental mode and for only two years — a number of agreements between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the patronati (assistance centers for Italians abroad) that have de facto been going on for a couple of years. The amendment was not included in the final bill. The same goes for a proposed action to reconsider opening the upcoming Comites elections to more candidate lists, while maintaining the lists that have already gone through the process of gathering signatures. I’d like to point out that these last two proposals would have had zero impact on the nation’s finances.
Lastly, dropping a series of tax reimbursements for travel agencies outside the European Union will strongly penalize tourism towards Italy.
All of these points now remain suspended, and we expect swift and decisive actions by the government to solve problems that ultimately damage every citizen and the country as a whole.
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