City of identity
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By Valeria Paganizza
We know. The mere heading of the news does not help to understand what it is about. Someone might have been perplexed when, a few days ago, they saw published in the Italian Official Journal of December 28, 2024, the Decree 12 December, 2024, «Definition of the requirements for municipalities to adopt the designation of “city of identity” and the requirements and methods for registration in the National Register of city of identity associations».
To understand what is being discussed, it is necessary to take a step back in time, to December 27, 2023, when, in Official Journal No. 300, Law No. 206 of December 27, 2023, «Disposizioni organiche per la valorizzazione, la promozione e la tutela del made in Italy» (Organic Provisions for the Enhancement, Promotion, and Protection of Made in Italy»), was published. Regardless of the reprehensible and unfortunately not isolated use of Anglophone expressions in acts of the Italian Republic, which the Legislator seems unable to do without, the purpose of the Law is already evident from its title. As confirmed by Article 1, the objective of the provisions is to «enhance and promote, in Italy and abroad, products of excellence, cultural heritage, and national cultural roots, as factors to be preserved and passed on not only for identity purposes but also for the growth of the national economy within and in accordance with the rules of the internal market of the European Union» (our translation). Even if not exclusively, the “identity” reason is part of the rationale of the norms. If, as emerges from the Explanatory Report of the original act, these measures are primarily born in response to market dynamics following the pandemic and influenced by the energy crisis and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, it is also true that the intent to support the production of products traditionally linked to the “narrative” of Italy as a country of “good” and “beautiful” is based on the exploitation of the so-called «country effect» (to use, once again, an anglicism contained in the Italian Explanatory Report). Here, then, the identity card takes on an economic value to be leveraged.
To understand how the Law intervened in this sense, please refer to the in-depth article published in this section of the site by Prof. Galli, «The “Made in Italy State Seal” to promote Italian excellences» What is of interest, however, at this moment, is only Article 40, which establishes the Register of National Associations of Cities of Identity. The purpose of the register is to allow the broadest participation «of operators in the agricultural sectors in the strategic planning of interventions for the enhancement and promotion of high-quality and highly renowned productions». Cities of identity are defined by the second paragraph of the same article as «cities or territorial realities that are characterized by high-quality agricultural productions, in which associative bodies of a municipal nature operate with the specific aim of promoting and enhancing the cultural identities of their territories in national and international markets». The definition is immediately clarified by the subsequent paragraph, which highlights that it is the «municipality» where the high-quality agricultural production is located that acquires the designation of «city of identity», provided that the conditions set by a subsequent ministerial decree are observed. The clarification arises from the necessary coordination with Article 18 of Legislative Decree No. 267 of August 18, 2000, which allows the granting of the title of «city» to «municipalities distinguished by memories, historical monuments, and current importance».
It is precisely the Decree published on December 28 that establishes the requirements for the attribution of the qualification of «city of identity» and for registration in the national register of city of identity associations.
What are the requirements for a municipality to qualify as a «city of identity»?
Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Decree of December 12, 2024, first identifies an “administrative” condition, specifying that the qualification of “city of identity” can be acquired by “cities” and “other municipalities”. Considering that the article of the Decree lists multiple definitions to be used in the interpretation of the rules, the first step to take will be to verify the meaning of the two expressions. What is meant by “city” has already been mentioned in the previous paragraph: a “municipality” is considered a city if it has been granted the title of “city” pursuant to Article 18 of Legislative Decree No. 267 of August 18, 2000, that is, a distinguished municipality «for memories, historical monuments, and current importance».
If it is true that Article 2 of the Decree provides a definition for «city», it is equally true that it does not contain a definition for «other municipalities». It only remains to interpret the expression as indicating all those municipalities that have not been able to acquire the title of «city» pursuant to Article 18 of Legislative Decree 267/2000.
However, there are two requirements (and this is the second condition), which are cumulative and not alternative, that municipalities wishing to acquire the qualification of «city of identity» must meet, regardless of whether they are distinguished or not.
The first requirement is that they are characterized by high-quality agricultural productions.
The decree describes three alternative hypotheses falling into this category.
1. The administrative territory is included, in whole or in part, within the geographical area of an agricultural product designated by a PDO or PGI. We will not dwell here on the definition of «agricultural product», which is also contained in Article 2, as this alone would merit a separate in-depth discussion (why not? It could be the subject of the next news update). We will limit ourselves to saying - to create hype for the upcoming updates - that it is not free from pleonasms. But let’s move on.
2. At least 30% of the production of a specific agricultural product within the administrative territory must be obtained according to the method of organic production pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and/or based on one of the national quality systems (National Quality System of Integrated Production – SQNPI, pursuant to Article 2 of Law No. 4 of February 3, 2011; National Quality System for Animal Welfare – SQNBA, pursuant to Article 224-bis of Decree-Law No. 34 of May 19, 2020, converted with amendments by Law No. 77 of July 17, 2020; National Quality System for Zootechnics – SQNZ, pursuant to the Decree of the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests of December 16, 2022).
3. There is a consolidated tradition, for a period of at least fifty years, linked to a specific agricultural product and connected to environmental, historical, and cultural values. And here, room for interpretative imagination! The drafter of the norm could not have offered more amusement to the jurist who wanted to attempt to define the boundaries of the provision.
The second requirement stipulates that in cities and other municipalities, all characterized, as mentioned above, by high-quality agricultural production, «associative bodies of a municipal nature» operate «with the specific aim of promoting and enhancing the cultural identities of their territory in national and international markets».
The national associations of cities of identity
The Decree of December 12, 2024, identifies the requirements for national associations of cities of identity to be included in the Register established by Article 40 of Law No. 206 of December 27, 2023, which can be summarized in the legal form of a recognized association with legal personality; the absence of profit motive; the purpose, consisting of «supporting and developing the quality of agricultural productions and the territories of the associated identity cities»; a minimum number of associated identity cities, located in at least three different regions or autonomous provinces and meeting the requirements for identity cities in relation to high-quality agricultural products; specific organizational chart requirements (presence of a board of auditors or a sole auditor); statutory purposes, which would also deserve an in-depth analysis (just think of a generic and unmotivated ban on the use of GMOs) and a certain historical activity, in the sense that the associations should have carried out «continuously, activities in pursuit of the statutory purposes [...] in the three years preceding the date of the application for registration in the register».
A city of identity can participate in only one national association for each individual agricultural product, either directly or through other entities to which they belong.
At the time of registration, each national association will be able to indicate only one agricultural product.
Why establish identity cities?
What is the real meaning of the establishment of cities of identity and their national associations? In the writer’s opinion, the adoption of the 2023 Law and the 2024 Decree can be accompanied by several meanings. Firstly, it is clearly an “ad personam” act, established to provide official recognition to already existing entities. The intent emerges already from the very first proposal presented on March 3, 2016 (Chamber Act 3653), entered in the text of draft law of 2023 during parliament’s work. The explanatory report indeed opens with a reference to the work of «formidable associative bodies of a municipal nature that have the specific purpose of promoting and enhancing the most authentic cultural identities of their administrative territories, particularly olive and vine cultivation along with their related productions, such as extra virgin olive oil and wine». These are, specifically, the associations called «Cities of Oil» and «Cities of Wine». Obviously, the fact that some provisions of the 2023 Law and the 2024 Decree aim to recognize associations and cities with already existing identities does not preclude the possibility of new ones emerging in the future.
What is perplexing is the multiplication of recognized initiatives that do nothing but add fragmentation and administrative burdens to the many others already existing in the agrifood sector. If it is true that the Decree includes the clause of financial invariance, the activities related to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of the register, although it is merely a recognitive nature (see the technical report of the transition from the General Accounting Office of the State), will, in fact, weigh on the current human and financial resources already assigned to the competent administrations. On this point, moreover, the same reading note from the Senate Budget Service highlighted the need for «more details regarding the data and elements suitable to support the hypothesis of invariance».
At this point, the political significance is added. As emerged from multiple initiatives in recent years (from the unenforceable Legislative Decree on mandatory indication of the manufacturing plant, to national regulations on mandatory indication of origin for certain foods, to the law on cultivated cell meat, on which G.Formici, The Long Journey of Cell-Based Meat across Singapore, the U.S. and Israel, Passing Through the European Union, focused), the “identitarian” and cultural appeal regularly resurfaces. And while the desire to protect national heritage as a cultural expression is certainly commendable, it is also true that the adoption of new regulations must correspond to a real collective benefit and not merely to bureaucratization.
Regarding the recognition of cities of identity and their national associations and the establishment of the national register, the question “cui prodest” (beyond proclamations) becomes inevitable.