Europa, Italia, Sud: integrare competitività e coesione

Over the past twenty-five years, the European Union has experienced a gradual decline in productivity relative to the United States, alongside widening internal territorial disparities. Between 2000 and 2024, regional convergence has been highly uneven: while the new Member States of Central and Eastern Europe have achieved significant gains in growth and productivity, the less developed regions of Mediterranean Europe – particularly Southern Italy – have progressively fallen behind. Negative demographic trends, including skilled migration, further reinforce these imbalances and increase the risk of «talent development traps». In this context, the new priorities of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034 risk further widening territorial disparities unless competitiveness policies are more effectively aligned with territorial cohesion objectives.