Numerous challenges await President Eugenio Giani and the entire regional administration upon returning from vacation, starting from the first days of September. There are important issues to be definitively addressed and given a decisive approach.
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President, meanwhile, happy Ferragosto. In which part of the world are you spending it?
«Thank you, and happy Ferragosto to all Tuscans, since Il Tirreno gives me the opportunity to address them with a greeting. Obviously, I am not leaving Tuscany. What better place is there than Tuscany to spend Ferragosto? There really isn’t one. I am in Marina di Bibbona.»
Looking ahead to the restart of administrative work in September, in which direction are you looking?
«There are three scenarios that will see us heavily engaged: one is energy, with 3 bills ready to cross the threshold of the regional council, another is infrastructure, with the establishment of “Toscana Strade” after authorization from the Court of Auditors, the last is soil defense, anticipating by a few weeks the symbolic date of 60 years since the Florence flood with the presentation of an investment plan for securing the territory amounting to 120 million. Also, allow me to announce an event scheduled from October 25 to 27.»
Please. What is it about?
«It is the Festival of Regions, which this year will be held in Florence. All 20 regional presidents have confirmed their presence at what is an annual event that serves to take stock of everything being done regarding regional policies. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and numerous ministers will also be there. An opportunity to reaffirm the meaning of the shift from regionalism based on differentiated autonomy to laws that make regionalism fair and supportive. A few days later, on November 2, we will have the opening of the great exhibition dedicated to Brunelleschi. 490 years after the construction of the dome that marked Renaissance architecture, the exhibition curated by Antonio Natali will be held inside Palazzo Strozzi Sacrati, the seat of the regional council.»
Let’s return to the three key themes of the autumn. On the front of ecological transition and renewable energies, how will you proceed?
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«As a council, we have presented three bills that will be approved in the regional council in September. One concerns suitable sites, that is the identification of locations, which will correspond to about 3% of the regional territory, where alternative energy plants can be built. Another concerns the simplification of procedures, to make the realization of these plants easier. The third concerns the so-called acceleration rules: where law 4 of 2026 has allowed faster progress, with plants in landfills, industrial sites, or quarries, we as a Region will try to foresee and adopt leaner and faster procedures. With these measures, we essentially overturn the philosophy of the national law 4 itself, which gave the impression of territories being called to say yes or no to interventions proposed by private parties, often driven by speculative intentions on even valuable areas. Starting from September, instead, the Region and the Municipalities will propose which areas can be suitable and in those the private sector will be able to propose its forms of investment. In this way, the public sector will return as decision-maker and, consequently, promoter of renewable energies, starting from the source for which Tuscany is a leader in Italy, namely geothermal energy, up to wind and photovoltaic.»
How will the launch of “Toscana Strade” be framed?
«We will establish a specialized company, modeled on how the Italian State did in the 1960s with the Autostrade Company. It will be a company entirely dedicated to the Florence-Pisa-Livorno route, to promote timely maintenance, but above all the realization of investments that can make the road increasingly safe, equipping it with safety lanes (which today do not exist), widening it (in some stretches the carriageway is particularly narrow) and building, where possible, third lanes. Naturally, all this will have to be done step by step. “Toscana Strade” will carry out its tasks with its own resources, including 50% of the revenues from speed cameras (the other 50% will remain in the Provinces’ coffers) and with resources provided by the Tuscany Region itself. Recently, in the last budget amendment, we allocated four million for maintenance, and in the 2027 budget we will allocate another 50 million to intervene already next year on two of the most critical points, from Scandicci to Lastra a Signa and from Pontedera to the junction for Pisa and Livorno, with the widening works I mentioned. Then, there is the issue of state funding, after the approval of the motion promoted by the PD parliamentarians, although Anas has not yet received any instructions in this regard. So, it is money that could come from Rome but also might not.»
So, there is no longer talk of tolls for trucks?
«The toll is no longer planned in the first phase. It is planned in a second phase, wanting to give the perception that we first start with public investments, to which we will later give continuity with the introduction of the toll, but only for trucks. The pockets of citizens and motorists will never be touched.»
The first year of the Giani-bis is almost over. Can a sort of assessment already be made, with a judgment on the quality of the political cohesion of the majority?
«I would say we are doing very well. The majority has held and is holding, contributing to very important measures, such as the energy issues themselves, the wildlife hunting plan, which could have highlighted ideologically very different positions, especially on hunting, but was then approved with an absolute majority, the “Tuscan-style” citizenship income, which helped professional training and the reintegration of many workers, and all the budget amendments related to the needs of the territories, from which the philosophy of widespread Tuscany clearly emerged. I have always found the support of a majority that on health, work, and school issues has always shown itself very cohesive and united.»
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