The Campidoglio flounders torn apart by dramatic power conflicts that intertwine with grotesque manifestations of inexperience or partisan brawls.
In less than three months the hopes of many Romans - expressed with a very large suffrage that made Virginia Raggi the first woman to lead the capital - have received a very hard blow.
In Milan, on the other hand, the climate is very different. Today the mayor Beppe Sala, the winner of the June challenge for the conquest of the municipal administration, is preparing to sign a "Pact for the city" with the Prime Minister.
Matteo Renzi arrives in the Lombard capital at the end of an intense and constructive confrontation between Palazzo Chigi and Palazzo Marino which, despite the temptations of summer rest, did not slow down even in August.
The document contains commitments for an estimated value of around 1,5 billion euros and concerns essential projects for the city which is facing, moreover in the heat of a certainly not easy season, a complex process of transformation towards an authentic metropolitan dimension.
Governing the impetuous flow of refugees and immigrants; heal relations with the suburbs; making the urban mobility system more effective without disrupting the lives of citizens are just three particularly burning examples. But others could do it.
Precisely for this reason the "Pact" is important for the Sala junta both for the concrete contents of the document and because its launch can be considered a precious signal of attention from the Government.
In the background we can also see the recognition of the specific weight that Milan and its local institutions have gained in recent months, also marked by the development of a strategic project for the post-Expo period such as the Human Technopole.
But there is also a theme, that of the attractiveness and internationalization of Milan, on which Sala had staked a lot during the electoral campaign which will hopefully be able to draw a strong boost from the new pact.
In the document, in fact, there is a chapter dedicated to relations with the major European agencies. The choice of London for Brexit will in fact involve the transfer of some of these institutions, currently based in Great Britain. Space is therefore opening up for other cities in the Union: an opportunity that Milan does not want to miss.
The orientation that today, on the point, appears to be prevalent is in favor of the EMA, the European drug agency. Diana Bracco, sole representative of the productive world within the control room set up on the subject by the Lombard Governor Roberto Maroni and the Mayor Sala, often repeats that Milan and Lombardy have all the credentials in the matter.
About a quarter of the scientific and technological research carried out in the country takes place in the Milan area; 13 of the 37 biotech drug companies existing in Italy operate in Lombardy and 7 of the 13 companies authorized, on the national territory, to produce medicines for advanced therapies.
Beyond the technical aspects, the 700 researchers who work for the Medicines Agency in London, and their families, moving to Milan would then find an environment well equipped with services and rich in cultural offerings.
The presence in Parma, since 2005, of EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, offers another perspective which certainly aroused the interest of Minister Maurizio Martina as well: that of aiming, through logistical by EMA and EFSA, to the birth of a European Food and Drug Administration.
A set of suggestive stimuli that push in favor of the choice, for Italy and for Milan, to concentrate the commitments to apply for the EMA headquarters.
In reality, a very important opportunity for Milan, linked to its historical role, would also be represented by the EBA, the European Banking Authority, which will also have to leave the London office. And, in fact, during a conference promoted at the end of July by the Pallacorda club - one of the liveliest in the Milanese Democratic Party - this hypothesis had been carefully considered.
On that occasion Luigi Baglivo, a jurist partner of the Grimaldi firm (also operating in London and Brussels), presented a very accurate and documented study on the possible transfer of the EBA and on the positive effects that this would have for Milan.
These are data that retain all their validity. If a different hypothesis takes shape, this probably derives from two factors: the assessment that the challenge on the EBA would have encountered greater difficulties (Warsaw's candidacy appears to have strong political credentials) and the need to avoid any "fratricidal" competition between multiple cities and/or between multiple targets.
The disturbing story in Rome regarding the Olympics has given, also in this case, more strength to Ambrosian realism.
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Renzi and Sala signed the Pact for Milan. The document, which summarizes the strategic objectives for the city on which the Municipality and the government will work together, “contains projects worth two and a half billion euros – explained the mayor -. To date, the needs up to 2017-18 have been financed with 650 million. Milan has made a qualitative leap in recent years but still has some issues to resolve”.
The chapters of the Pact for Milan include topics such as the environment, the suburbs, the metropolitan city, the post-Expo period and finally the internationalization of Milan. “Milan wants to compete with the other cities of the world – concluded Sala – and take on a prominent position”.
As for the post-Expo, Renzi assured that the decree of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers on the subject will arrive shortly. "Milan has a responsibility: it is Italy's reference city in the world, because it is a leader in many sectors, from entrepreneurship to the third sector," said Renzi.
