We are running out: a few more weeks and the new map of the Italian provinces will be completed, ready, at that point, for examination by the first Council of Ministers in November.
The government will not make any discounts or concessions on the numerous requests for exemptions. In fact, the indications set by the spending review will be applied to the letter: Provinces whose surface area is less than 2.500 square kilometers, or which have fewer than 350 inhabitants will be incorporated by neighboring ones. Among the cut provinces there will also be some historical ones, such as Benevento and Rovigo and Terni, ending with Treviso, too small of only 23 square kilometers.
As regards the regions with ordinary statute, the number of Provinces will increase from 86 to 50, including the ten metropolitan cities. To make the process more linear and expeditious, all the Provinces, starting from June 2013, will be commissioned, thus favoring the carrying out of this transition phase. The Minister of Public Administration Filippo Patroni Griffi commented on the decision as follows: "We cannot think that an important reform like this can fail only due to local resistance".
One of the problems that the commissioners, who will most likely be the outgoing presidents of the province, will be that of managing the employees of the various entities linked to the cut off provinces in order to meet the requests of the territory: "In the immediate future - says the minister - there will be no it will be a contraction of personnel but there could be a physical shift. Naturally the criteria of this operation will have to be studied with a joint examination together with the unions”.
Another crucial point to address will be that of the new electoral system, while Minister Patroni Griffi, who declares himself optimistic on the progress of the procedure, also opens the discussion on the Municipalities: "there are 8, too many, and half have fewer than 5 inhabitants". specifying, however, that "who will be in the next legislature" will deal with the question.
