Sinibaldi: «ANCI a bridge between territories and European policies». Masi: «We need a widespread culture of project planning, without leaving the small municipalities behind».»
Rome, 7 July 2026 – It took place today, at WeGil, the event “Local dialogues on the EU – Bringing Europe closer to local communities”promoted by the Lazio Regional Council and the Conference of Presidents of the Legislative Assemblies of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, in collaboration with the European Committee of the Regions, the Representation in Italy of the European Commission, the Office for Italy of the European Parliament and ANCI. A significant representation from ANCI Lazio took part in the initiative, which was aimed at local and regional administrators of Lazio.
During the institutional greetings in the morning, the President of ANCI Lazio, Daniele Sinibaldi, thanked the President of the Regional Council, Antonello Aurigemma, for the attention dedicated to the issue of bringing territories closer to European policies. Sinibaldi retraced the evolution of the role of ANCI Lazio, now a true «Drive belt»between territories and central and regional administrations: from a purely representative office to a subject of operational support for the Municipalities, capable of bringing the voice of the Lazio mayors' community to every discussion table.
The President then highlighted the structural difficulties of small municipalities: in Lazio, there are a total of 378, of which over 260 have fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, often grappling with very limited administrative resources. This fragility, Sinibaldi emphasized, is the legacy of «twenty years of policies and restrictions on municipalities» and directly impacts the design and management capacity of smaller entities. Despite this, the President recalled, municipalities have taken a leading role in public spending and PNRR investments, demonstrating one of the most effective «on-the-ground» capabilities within the entire public administration.
On these foundations, the new programming architecture for 2028-2034 is being built, aimed at making the Municipalities themselves the protagonists: a transition that, for Sinibaldi, must be accompanied by an adequate leap in awareness and planning maturity in the territories. «The new phase of spending must continue in this direction,» he stated, recalling the support already guaranteed for initiatives such as the Green Islands of Ponza and Ventotene – a model that ANCI Lazio intends to consolidate and replicate – and the Territorial Strategies developed with the Lazio Region for Frosinone, Rieti, and Latina.
Sinibaldi also reported on the work initiated with the regional department for Budget and Economic Planning to set up the new programming phase: the objective, he explained, is to adopt a logic of developing wide-ranging, shared, and co-ordinated supra-municipal planning, the only way to transform public spending into genuine investment and an engine for wealth creation in the area.
The Secretary-General of ANCI Lazio, Luca Masi, He spoke in the second panel, dedicated to supporting and strengthening the capacity of local authorities to seize the challenges and opportunities of the European Union, sharing the experience of the Europa Office in Frosinone and the experimental project carried out with IFEL, illustrating ANCI Lazio's contribution to supporting local authorities with a shared model of training and project development. «We are trying to involve other territories,» explained Masi, «supporting an exchange of information that fosters a culture of project development and networking.» However, the Secretary General expressed ANCI Lazio's concern about the new European programming, particularly for small municipalities, noting that available resources are lower than expected: "The national fund meets expectations for this period, but a step back in regional programming is a source of concern.".
The day also saw the presentation of the EU Local Councillors Network and a training session dedicated to building project proposals for directly managed European funds, within the framework of the SITE (Sistema Italia in Europa) project. An important occasion, therefore, to strengthen dialogue between European, regional, and local institutions and to give a voice to the needs of the territories, particularly small municipalities.
