Our area is now central to the entire continent

Andrea Tomat, president of the ‘Lotto’ sportswear company:

“North-east Italy must obtain fiscal federalism and compete globally along with Slovenia and Carinthia

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Unindustria - Tomat

Born in Udine, Andrea Tomat began his career in the Eaton Corporation and in 1987 started working for Lotto clothing company. In 1998, together with Adriano Sartor, he bought out the Stonefly company. In 1999, as the head of a consortium of entrepreneurs, he acquired the Lotto brand-name and became President and Director General of the company that has its headquarters in the Province of Treviso, in Veneto. Between 2004 and 2008 he was President of Unindustria Treviso (the local association of entrepreneurs) and since 2004 has been on the governing body of the Italian business body Confindustria, and, since 2005 President of the Fondazione Nord-Est (the North-east Foundation). In April 2008 he became the new President of the Italian national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Q What advantages do you see in the new Euroregional institution?
A The Euroregion is a project that, in the past, was called the Alpe Adria community, which was born, as we all know, well before the fall of the Berlin Wall and therefore in a context that is radically different from today. It is an idea that has found a new relevance, given the progressive expansion of the European Union and one that enjoys broad support from the Italian Regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia and, I also believe, in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.
It is the new Europe of 27, and, more generally, the phenomenon of globalisation, that favour the creation of homogenous transboundary regions. These are, in any case, foreseen by Community regulations and are, in fact, the Euroregions. Particularly in this case, as for businesses, it poses the question of size and the identification of areas suitable for initiatives favouring territorial competitiveness.
Q As a North-east Italian businessman, what message would you like to put forward in this respect?
A At this point in time there’s a widespread awareness that this area has assumed a new centrality for the Continent and a role as a node on at least three important European connecting routes (Corridors 5 and 1 and the Autostrade del mare, that is ‘sea-motorways’ in Italian). It is, above all, this geographical position that means that these regions share the same needs and similar objectives. The Euroregion could, together with the respective national governments, help coordinate the investments that are being made in this field, and, of course, favour the institutional, economic and cultural relationships in this area.
Q Is the concept of territoriality still relevant in a globalised market?
A Yes, of course; even more so in a capitalism of people and territories such as that found in Italy, and especially in the North-east, along with the regions that may well go to make up the Euroregion. The internationalisation of businesses, and this is a crucial step for many sectors, should not be seen as an alternative to the identifying themselves as part of a local community and an industrial tradition that is profoundly our own. In fact this could actually become our brand in getting ourselves known and appreciated at a global level.
Q What impetus can a multicultural context supply to an entrepreneurial activity such as yours?
A Operating in a multilingual and multicultural context is an opportunity for everyone and each and every business and is present in the DNA of our production systems, accustomed as we are to always searching for new opportunities and partnerships in Europe and the world.
Q What behaviour would you like to see from the various nation States and from the Italians in particular when it comes to the delegation of certain powers to organisations such as the Euroregion?
A With North-Eastern Italy in mind, the creation of a Euroregion obviously comes after the carrying out of reforms that lead towards fiscal federalism. These would give the Region Veneto the powers and resources already enjoyed by the two autonomous Regions that also go to make up the area: Trentino – Alto Adige and Friuli – Venezia Giulia. A federal organisation, I’d like to emphasise, has always been the state of affairs in Austria as well as in Germany – and Slovenia is working towards a regionalised model. As I said in my recent address to the Assembly of Unindustria in Treviso, for whom I have just finished my term as President: a real and efficient federalism represents a precondition in North-east Italy to give life both to our (disadvantaged) interior and an effective metropolitan dimension. Through the construction of a European macroregion, this would allow us to link up with Carinthia, Slovenia, Istria and Dalmatia. In any case, this is the new frame of reference and we must measure ourselves against it without delay. x

Attachments across borders: merely enrichment

“To feel attached to the cultures and people across the border and to remember our common history can enrich our identity as Italians, Austrians or Slovenes”, explains Josef Langer, a sociologist based in Klagenfurt (Carinthia), who sees Euroregions as a completely new supranational reality. He adds that the much more serious risk is to get lost in the numerous commercialised and pseudo-political identities offered by the forces of globalisation

Josef Langer
Josef Langer

Josef Langer is a sociologist working at the Institute of Sociology at the Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt. He specialises in theories of globalisation, identity and interculturalism. He has widely researched the social processes surrounding EU integration and has written extensively on these topics.

Q Many think that the new EU legislation on European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) should form the legal framework for the construction of a Euroregion covering Slovenia, Southern Austria, North-eastern Italy and North-western Croatia. According to the relevant regulation, pre-existing political and administrative bodies (Regions, Land, States and Provinces) should jointly contribute some of their administrative powers to this crossborder Euroregion. How do you think this new institution could challenge the perception of the roles of the Nation-States in our society?
A The EGTC offers a complete new definition of state border: I mean it represents a change from a national to a supranational reality. The ‘genetic code’ of EU institutions which requires a ‘pooling of sovereignty’ is being applied for the first time to the borders of Member States. This legislation provides an instrument for the common management, use and administration of a set of strictly defined and agreed matters. Whereas the Interregs and other previous EU cross-border instruments were conventional in the sense that independent organizations from different states cooperated, the EGTC has the potential to create a single supranational organisation for administering the border – from a line of control and distinction the border moves to become a place of common utilisation. Its implementation would mean a complete negation of the nation state in an important element of its identity – the outer boundary. However, for the time being I do not see any attempt in the Alps-Adriatic space to use the EGTC in such a manner. The new cross-border projects for the 2007-2013 period seem to continue in conventional patterns of inter-state cooperation and refer to the EGTC, if at all, only rhetorically.
Q Do you think that a Euroregional identity could be considered more relevant compared to the discourses of identity offered by Nation-States?
A The supportive attitude towards cross-border cooperation which we observe in today’s Zeitgeist, the ever-growing cross-border business activities together with EU funding of cross-border cooperation, stimulates awareness of what is going on in the territories across national borders amongst significant numbers of people. The recognition and realisation of cross-border opportunities bind people together, creating a feeling of community on the basis of mutual advantage. In the Alps-Adriatic territories there is an additional factor for creating community and this is centuries of common history prior to WWI. For the people between the Alps and Adriatic the time of their separation into nation states is much shorter than that of being together in the past. Hapsburg rule left many constructions and buildings in these territories which can create a feeling of communality even amongst those who are not historically involved. Demonstrating an Alps-Adriatic cross-border identity could be seen as a ‘soft’ asset for building relations and developing common projects.
However, as I indicated before, we live in an era of multiple identities and, even more, of Western individualism and the dominance of particular interests connected with it. In this precarious situation for all collective identities the conflict between regional cross-border identity and a national identity such as Italian or Slovene need not be feared. In fact, my personal opinion is a feeling of attachment to the cultures and peoples across the borders and remembering our common history can enrich our identities as Italians, Austrians or Slovenes. Moreover, collective identities are also linked to material conditions, and here the Nation State is still more competitive than cross-border situations. Today I see no antagonism between the cross-border identity and the national identity, at least not in the Alps-Adriatic area.
The much greater risk, in my opinion, is getting lost in the numerous commercialised and pseudo-political identities offered by the forces ofglobalisation. Let us not forget, that in certain contemporary socialmilieus identifying with the logo of arbitrary global brands is moresignificant than identifying with a territory, culture or nation.
Q Some people see a national language as the primary indicator of one’s identity. What do you think should be the languages used and taught in the contexts of the Euroregional area to support cross-border cooperation, both in the public and private sectors?
A Personally I consider knowledge of a foreign language as an advantage. However, I am sceptical about obligatory foreign language learning. Nevertheless, for the Alps-Adriatic area the learning of the languages of this area should be encouraged and the necessary organisational opportunities (education, exchanges, etc.) created. I do not think that knowing a foreign language can negatively affect one’s identity. x