Franceschini blocks Bonisoli reform: "We stopped the August decrees, we will correct them"

Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini has blocked the reform of the ministry promoted by his predecessor Alberto Bonisoli. This was stated by the minister himself in an interview published yesterday in Repubblica. “I appreciated that he did not twist anything,” Franceschini said. “In his [reform] there are things that do not convince me and cautiously we have stopped the decrees issued in August. We will correct them. But it will not be the counter-reform.” The new minister then reiterated his position on the sidelines of a meeting to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Aie, the Italian Publishers Association, stressing that the measure was necessary because the implementing decrees of the Bonisoli reform were signed in the midst of a crisis.

So Bonisoli’s measures would be annulled: the boards remain, mergers are frozen (starting with that between the Uffizi and Accademia, despite the fact that director Eike Schmidt had already set to work), and interregional museum networks do not start.

Franceschini was able to withdraw the decrees due to the fact that they were signed by Bonisoli in the week of Ferragosto, they were registered in those days, but although they were sent to the Corte dei Conti, the body had not yet approved them. Thus a new phase of uncertainty opens, although it is entirely likely that Franceschini will review the Bonisoli reform as early as the next few days.

Meanwhile, applause has also been expressed by opposition forces. Civica Popolare deputy Gabriele Toccafondi said that “this is good news because it marks the victory of common sense over a self-referential logic that thinks from above and from Rome to decide the fate of local communities. The autonomy of museums is a fundamental tool for economic, tourist and cultural growth but also for taking responsibility and ownership. It is a challenge that we had taken on with pride and courage in Florence, achieving historic results that wanted to be erased with a stroke of a pen by Rome because of its desire to centralize everything.”

He was echoed by Federico Mollicone of Fratelli d’Italia: “Franceschini will withdraw the implementing decrees of the Mibac administration reform wanted by Bonisoli. Fratelli d’Italia was the only political force to oppose this absurd concentration of power toward the secretary general, not by chance wanted precisely by Secretary General Panebianco and of which Bonisoli was a mere executor. Franceschini shows discontinuity with Bonisoli’s action but also with the policies he implemented during his previous leadership of the ministry in Via del Collegio Romano.”

Now all that remains is to wait for developments: at stake is also the reappointment of some directors of autonomous museums whose fate had remained suspended.

Franceschini blocks Bonisoli reform: "We stopped the August decrees, we will correct them"

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