If there is a governor who knows the process of Differentiated Autonomy as well as its “adoptive father” Roberto Calderoli, it is Alberto Stefani. The League member, currently leading Veneto, when he was a parliamentarian (until December 2025) was the rapporteur in the Chamber for the bill that allowed the approval of the framework law which led to the green light for pre-agreements. To date, four Regions have requested to join Differentiated Autonomy. On Tuesday, Parliament voted on the texts for Lombardy, Liguria, and Piedmont. Yesterday morning it was Veneto’s turn. And, it seems, there are already other regions, including those in the Centre-South, that might request a similar path.
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Governor, what kind of day was yesterday for you and for the Venetian people?
«A day that led to a very important result and closed the parliamentary phase of this reform. A day that put an end to a story that began on October 22, 2017, with the referendum that sanctioned the democratic desire for autonomy of Venetian citizens.»
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Before delving into technicalities and political controversies, as governor, is there anything you feel you want to say to your citizens?
«I want to tell them “thank you” for their patience and for those who, instead of complaining, studied, informed themselves, and understood that Autonomy is a complex institutional process and that achieving this result took time.»
Many haven’t understood, accusing the League of abandoning its historical themes, and instead…
«And instead, the League, in its history, has never achieved so much in terms of autonomy as in this legislature. This achievement is also a clear response to those who have instrumentally attacked us on this issue.»
Stefani, yet there’s a part of the country that doesn’t want to understand. The left.
«The paradoxical thing is that the League and the center-right achieved this result by applying a reform, that of 2001, desired and voted for by a center-left government.
This shows how instrumental these criticisms are. As are the announced appeals by Decaro or the calls from Southern mayors (about a hundred, editor’s note) to try and stop a decision made by Parliament, the highest body of democracy. I respect the positions of those who do not agree with this reform, but I remain convinced that Autonomy represents an opportunity. Political debate is legitimate, but I believe the merits of the reform should prevail over slogans.»
Let’s try to explain to readers what will happen now in Veneto (and obviously in the other regions involved)…
«I will convene the Group for Territorial Autonomies to submit the text approved in Parliament. Then it will be up to the Regional Council to discuss and vote on it. Once approved by the Venetian assembly, it will return to the Council of Ministers for final approval.»
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Second clarification: concretely, what will change for citizens once you and your fellow governors have greater autonomy over the first matters?
«In general, we can say that with Autonomy, the responsibilities and efficiency of regional administrators will be enhanced. Getting specific, for example in Healthcare, we will have fewer spending constraints and more room for intervention on how to invest money to ensure higher quality and add healthcare services for citizens. Today, the constraints imposed on us by Rome are too stringent.»
Two other rather important matters are those related to Civil Protection and supplementary integrated pensions. What will change here?
«Also in terms of Civil Protection, we will have more freedom to directly manage emergency situations in the territory. Finally, we could propose regional supplementary pension funds, which are especially requested by young people today.»
Returning to the criticisms, the most serious one is that with this reform, the South will fall behind and the country will fall apart. What is your response?
«The conditions in which entire areas of the country find themselves today are the result of a centralist system of government that has existed since the beginning of the Republic. To say that Autonomy will break up the country is quite surreal. And then there’s another thing the left doesn’t say…».
What?
«That thanks to this reform, the government will finally establish the essential levels of services, which Italians have been waiting for for over twenty years. And this is very important because it sets a qualitative bar below which no one can go. This too is an important step in favor of citizens.»
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