Brussels, 26/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Raffaele Lombardo, governor of the autonomous Italian region of Sicily, will hand in his resignation on 31 July 2012, and Sicily will then come under the control of Rome and be subject to a financial rescue plan. Lombardo informed the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, about his resignation at a meeting between the two on Tuesday 24 July. Last week, Monti sent Lombardo a letter setting out grave concerns about Sicily's finances. Lombardo has been accused of supporting the Mafia. Sicily can no longer roll over its debt on the money markets and has a deficit of €5.3 billion, in an echo of various Spanish regions, three of which have requested bailout funding (see EUROPE 10662).
As far as Rome is concerned, it is a matter of damage limitation and preventing Sicily from going bankrupt. The mayor of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, describes the island as Italy's Greece. Sicily has been headed by Lombardo since 2008. Its deficit is of the order of 6% of the island's GDP and it also has debts of some €21 billion. The central Italian government is now taking over to restore financial stability. Monti and Lombardo have reached agreement on a financial rescue plan, reorganisation of the region's civil service, a timetable and binding objectives, says the Italian government in a press release.
As a result of irregularities observed in Sicily, the European Commission recently decided to suspend the payment of EU co-financing under the European Regional Development Fund. The Commission is reported to have found serious failings in the management and audit system in Sicily, failings which have not been corrected. No further EU funding will be forthcoming until the problems have been ironed out. (MD/transl.fl)