Populist sovereignty in an Italian sauce is simultaneously playing a double game: one at the European level, the other at the national level. In both cases aiming at promote a trend reversal compared to the unitary processes that took place on the Continent and in our country in distant times. At the European level, a worrying action of delegitimization of values which are at the basis of the unification process started seventy years ago. European integration, through a complex process, and not without contrasts, has managed to bring together a progressively growing number of countries.
Despite their diversity, peoples and cultures have recognized themselves in goals which, if one tries to list the most important, reveal the extraordinary and precious foundations of the construction of European unity: the banning of war; the affirmation of the common values of European civilization; respect for the principles of representative democracy, the rule of law, social justice and human rights; the progressive unification of the market; the confluence of national currencies into a strong and stable single currency; the preparation of economic and regulatory instruments to support territorial cohesion and the development of backward sectors; the construction of common rules to work for the protection of the environment in a vision of sustainable economic development; the commitment of resources to promote advanced research; the possibility, for millions of young students, to choose the place in which to build their future, as free European citizens.
Similarly, at the national level, without considering the terrible economic prospects in preparation, an attempt is being made to pass a plan to break the unified framework of the country, leading to the belief that, in order to grow more quickly, the northern regions must get rid of the southern burden. Differentiated autonomy, which could receive a decisive boost from the loosening of the European unitary spirit, would certainly lead to a definitive consolidation of the economic and social detachment of the South from the rest of the country. Also in this case, that is, there is a tendency to disregard that the unitary process was there condition for building the underlying fabric of Italian identity, a reality rich in territorial articulations which, taken together, have become increasingly capable of transmitting to the world a message generally recognized as the Italian model, made up of a set of cultures, ways of life, different economic civilizations, but intertwined and interacting as unique.
Can this drift be stopped? By now, much will depend on the balance of power within the political structure that will emerge from the imminent European elections, and on the prevalence, or otherwise, of the will to enhance the important objectives achieved thanks to the unitary path achieved so far, adapting them to the needs imposed by the changes taking place in the contemporary economy and society. In fact, a crucial phase in the history of Europe and of our country is taking shape, in which the matches of the necessary renewal of the economic and social system, and that of the position in the global framework that is progressively taking shape. We need to equip ourselves to face: the functions of absolute pre-eminence that new subjects are preparing to perform on a global level; the continuous territorial recomposition of value chains on a global scale; the radical changes in production relationships and technologies; the revolution in the world of work characterized by intensity and rhythms never experienced before; situations of inequality in living conditions that have reached levels that are neither bearable nor acceptable.
It is not possible to face these prospects with a European system and an Italian system both disunited and distant from each other. And we must be aware that it is from Europe that we must start. At this level, presumably a long and difficult battle will have to be fought to move from the dimension of acquired goals to the definition of objectives corresponding to the formation of a new and cohesive social and economic system in which the policies of the European countries are recognized. We need to open the construction site of social Europe, working on welfare policies, rights, opportunities, and an inclusive improvement in people's living conditions. We need to give a decisive and consistent European dimension to policies for culture, education, training for new jobs, research and technology transfer. It definitely goes opened the era of environmental sustainability and convergence by building a new agenda for the contemporary real economy of European states and their regions.
Beyond all this there is a problem to be considered unavoidable for Europe and, as far as we are concerned, the whole of Italy, with its South. This is the importance that the Mediterranean will assume as a geographical centrality of future development; something that explains the drama of immigration we are witnessing. This invokes the the need to build a Mediterranean guideline for European development: a scenario which, together with those of the contemporary world mentioned above, obliges us to start an in-depth comparison to overcome the logics which have inspired the policies for our South in recent decades.
