Timing did not play in Emilia-Romagna's favor. The earthquake that hit the north-east of our country occurred two days after publication in the Official Gazette of the Government decree that has reformed civil protection and changed the rules on compensation by the state for damages caused by natural disasters. According to the new law, in fact, the Treasury will bear the costs for the interventions only for the first 100 days (60 + 40 of derogation). At the end of this period the competence will pass to the Regions, in this case to Emilia-Romagna. This reform has created quite a few controversies as, contrary to the principle of solidarity between peoples, it places the burden of dealing with emergencies on the individual regions, in the most difficult moments. As the Undersecretary to the Prime Minister, Antonio Catricalà, declared yesterday, the earthquake is the "testing ground for the reform".
Reform which is actually based on the idea of coping with these events through personal insurance. The decree introduces the principle of voluntary insurance coverage against the risk of damage deriving from natural disasters. However, today, in the absence of subscriptions to any type of insurance, the only way that the State and Emilia have to meet the financial commitment is to increase taxes on petrol and diesel. According to the new rules indeed the increase in excise duty will be mandatory for the State which will have to reconstitute the National Fund for disasters, with the upward adjustment of the price of fuel up to a maximum of 5 cents per litre, while for the regions the intervention will be volunteer.
The governor of Emilia Romagna, Vasco Errani, declared that before making a decision in this regard he will wait for the end of the 100-day emergency period, but from the estimates of the damages (at least 250 million are calculated for the Grana Padano Consortium alone) it seems that the road to the double increase is already marked.
"In a few hours in Rome, in the Council of Ministers, we will declare a state of emergency” for the areas affected by last Saturday's earthquake, stated the Prime Minister, Mario Monti.
