On August the 28th the new Italian bill on Development Cooperation entered into force upon the publication in the national Official Journal, the new law is numbered 125/2014. While the debate and the reform process lasted over 20 years, the law should lead to concrete results in the next three/six months. So far the only visible sign is the change of the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Another major change has occurred from the date of publication of the law. Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini has been appointed to succeed Catherine Ashton as high representative and head of the EU External Action Service. It means that the Renzi’s government will soon appoint a new Foreign Minister Read more ›
Ricerca per parola chiave: italian-cooperation-agency
New law and new minister, what comes next in Italian development cooperation?
Italy overhauls its development cooperation system in search for a fresh start
Italy may well now sport a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation; in fact, the good news is that the Italian Parliament gave its final clearance to the legislation to reform the Italian development cooperation system last week, on 1st August. Domestically, the final go ahead was welcomed by many decision makers and interested observers even if the general political context was not helpful as the final vote took place amidst fierce divisions around other legislation the Houses were discussing in parallel, including a substantive institutional reform. Despite divisions across the political spectrum, the aid bill got only two nays in the plenary voting sessions at the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. This is the final chapter in a story of attempted reforms that has spanned about twenty years. There is also an ironic side to this story: not many seemed to care about Italian cooperation, but, when it came to fixing it, all different sorts of interests coalesced to stop the reformers. Kudos to the current political leadership, in the Government and in the Parliament, that has pushed this reform through at last. Read more ›
Why the new Italian Aid Agency should not be based in Rome
In the ongoing process towards the new law on co-operation it is clear that little or nothing can be changed during the short parliamentary passage that, barring unforeseen circumstances , could start in March. The deputy minister Pistelli speaks of a parliamentary path of approximately 15 months until the drafting of the decrees and the statutes that establish the Agency. The Agency seems to be the only real chance to make a change in the Italian Cooperation. Until now, the debate has been characterized by the fear that the newly-formed agency can become a heavy wagon, many think that it is an investment too costly and therefore unpopular in the current context. Read more ›
