Audit Court raises issues on regional autonomy

(ANSA) - Rome, July 17 - Italy's Audit Court said in a report on Wednesday that there could be legal problems with the drive by Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna to have greater autonomy.
    The State auditor referred to a 2009 law that brought in 'fiscal federalism' in Italy.
    It said that the law "does not seem to allow a different way to finance additional subjects (of regional control) nor their subtraction from the mechanism of interregional adjustment stipulated in the national law". Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's League party is fully behind the three regions' drive for greater autonomy.
    But 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio, the other deputy premier and the labour and industry minister, has warned against worsening the split between the affluent north of Italy and the poorer south.
    Talks between government partners the M5S and the League on greater autonomy for the three northern Italian regions broke up in acrimony earlier this month.
    photo: Veneto Governor Luca Zaia.