Austerity hit Italy may not be able to open schools

Italy’s provincial government association has warned that schools may not be able to open after the summer holidays due to planned spending cuts, highlighting growing concerns about local finances in the eurozone’s third-largest economy.

The comments follow prime minister Mario Monti’s warning last week that the autonomous region of Sicily was on the brink of a default and comes on the same day La Stampa said that ten Italian cities faced serious financial difficulties – echoing similar problems in Spain.

“With these cuts we won’t be able to guarantee the opening of the school year,” UPI president Giuseppe Castiglione told reporters in Rome yesterday.

Italian officials’ comments, however, may also be designed to help negotiations as the provinces seek to soften the impact of a government spending review announced this month which seeks to chop through some of the tangled web of overlapping local government 
bodies.

“I think everyone is making their move now because negotiations are going on at the moment on how to distribute the cuts,” a government official said, speaking on condition of 
anonymity.

The spending review unveiled plans for €26 billion in cuts over three years, including steep cuts to government funding for municipal, regional and provincial governments with a further €6bn of cuts due later this year.

The provinces face cuts of €500 million this year and another €1bn in 2013.

In addition, Italy’s central government plans to halve the number of provinces from more than 100 at present as part of plans to slim down Italy’s bloated government apparatus, prompting furious opposition from provincial politicians.