Festa dell’Amicizia: Venturini closes 53rd edition with the traditional political address

THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT: A HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT
Dear friends, the Festa dell’Amicizia is also a moment in which we look back at the road travelled and ahead to the prospects before us. 2026 will remain in the history of the Republic as the year in which the long process of the Association Agreement with the European Union entered its decisive phase. The signing of the Agreement, expected next autumn, represents a historic achievement — one built through years of negotiation, technical and political dialogue, diplomacy and daily work. This result was achieved thanks to the constant work of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Luca Beccari, and the entire staff of the Secretariat of State, but it is also the fruit of the commitment of everyone who has worked on this path since the very beginning. For this reason, I would like to remember, among others, our friend Pasquale Valentini, who held the Foreign Affairs portfolio when the Agreement process began, and who even then foresaw the prospects and horizons that would open up for our Republic within the economic and social space of the European Union. Association with the European Union will allow us to enter the European single market without becoming EU members, while preserving the distinctive features of our small State — which is why I stress once again that this is an Association Agreement, not accession to the European Union. Throughout this process, we have also had the support of our friend Italy, a testament to the good relations of friendship and effective cooperation with the Italian Government, which we are confident will continue in the future. The Italian Republic has always been a fundamental partner in our bilateral and international relations. San Marino does not lose its identity by opening up to Europe. It strengthens it, because it gains new tools to support its economy, protect its citizens, offer opportunities to young people, attract investment and consolidate its international credibility. This will mark the beginning of a new phase, probably an even more demanding one, in which public administration, businesses, the professions, the financial system and Sammarinese society as a whole will need to be guided in applying the new rules and seizing the opportunities available. As the PDCS, we want to take on this responsibility fully as well, confident that, by working together, all the actors involved in this historic transition will be able to contribute — each in their own field — to building an “administrative interface” capable of implementing the Agreement and meeting the needs of citizens and operators across every sector of the country.

BUDGET, DEBT AND THE CREDIBILITY OF THE REPUBLIC
The European path fits within a broader framework of economic strengthening and financial stability for the Republic. In recent years, San Marino has gone through complex times. We have had to deal with the effects of the banking crisis, the pandemic, rising energy costs, international tensions and a financial situation that demanded difficult and often unpopular decisions. We did not hide the problems. We chose to face them. The budget results and the improvement in the Republic’s financial position show that the work carried out is producing concrete, positive effects. The steady reduction in the public debt-to-GDP ratio, the improvement in the quality and liquidity of the banking system, and a more prudent fiscal policy have restored solidity and credibility to the country. The improvement in the Republic’s ratings by all international agencies is the clearest acknowledgment of the progress made and of San Marino’s growing economic, financial and institutional stability. Total bank deposits have exceeded €7 billion for the first time since 2015, growing steadily over the past three years. Savers who, a few years ago, had moved their savings out of the country following the negative effects on the banking system caused by those who governed before us in the Adesso.sm administration, are now looking with renewed interest at the Sammarinese system. This is clear proof of confidence in our financial system and in the country’s future — confidence we will continue to strengthen while closely monitoring the consolidation of the entire banking system, as we have always done. For all this, allow me to thank our Secretary of State for Finance, Marco Gatti, who, over these past six years, together with his staff, has built, step by step, an economic framework that today allows us to have our accounts in order.

WHERE WE STARTED AND WHERE WE ARE GOING
These results allow us today to “put on our festival clothes,” but I believe it is important to remember where we started and the work carried out over these years. I am sure you will recall that when we took on the responsibility of government in the last legislature, after difficult years, the situation of the country was profoundly different. There were moments when the concern was not which investment to make, but ensuring the very sustainability of the State, finding the resources even to pay salaries and to secure the public finances. Today that phase is behind us. And I believe this is a political fact we must claim with great clarity, because it has been one of the fundamental achievements of the Christian Democracy in these years: we have put the State’s accounts back in order, we have regained international credibility, and we have rebuilt a strong and authoritative relationship with Italy. These are results that directly affect people’s lives — they are not empty words. If today we hear talk of new investments, public works, road maintenance and even the possible rail link between Borgo and the City, but above all of support for families and those in greater difficulty, it is because San Marino is now in the economic condition to be able to invest. And this was by no means a given. If today we have been able to lower the price of petrol and diesel, reduce electricity, water and gas tariffs after the steep increases caused by the international crisis and the war, raise family allowances, halve the fees for summer camps, and increase contributions for tourism, sports and cultural events, it is thanks to the work carried out by the Christian Democracy over these years. If today it is possible to renew the contract for the broader public sector, as has already been done in every area of private employment — which has seen an increase of more than 3,000 jobs — it is because our country is experiencing a period of strong growth. If today we have more resources available, allowing greater capacity for investment, support for families and improved quality of services, it is also thanks to the attention paid to containing public spending, which must continue rigorously. Until yesterday, we had to manage the emergency. Today, we are governing the future. And we are doing so by continuing to implement the Government Programme agreed for this legislature, which we want to see through to its natural conclusion.

HEALTHCARE TO BE STRENGTHENED
Healthcare remains central to our party’s political action. The appointment of our friend Massimo Andrea Ugolini as Secretary of State for Health and Social Security opens a new phase. On behalf of the entire party, I extend to him our best wishes for his work. Taking on this responsibility after Mariella’s passing is certainly not easy, neither from a human nor a political point of view. But we are confident he will approach the task with balance, competence, a capacity for listening and determination. Sammarinese public healthcare represents one of the most important achievements of our community. It is a heritage we must defend and, above all, strengthen. The healthcare model that the Christian Democracy has always proposed is not one in which San Marino has a large emergency room while all other services are sought outside our territory. We believe in universal public healthcare. We believe in a hospital capable of treating Sammarinese citizens in San Marino. We believe our healthcare system must retain expertise, professionalism and services, meeting the needs of both citizens and healthcare workers themselves. We are a small State and we must be pragmatic. There will be specializations or services offered in cooperation with top-level Italian facilities, but wherever possible, we must bring further outstanding expertise to San Marino rather than send patients abroad. This is the hospital model we want. This is the healthcare model we intend to defend. And on this the Christian Democracy will be very clear, because the strategic choices concerning the future of the hospital, healthcare and social security in San Marino cannot be treated as mere administrative decisions: they concern the model of country we want to build. We must reduce waiting times, strengthen local and family medicine, improve the organization of services, value healthcare and social-healthcare staff, invest in prevention, and ensure greater integration between health and social care. Policymakers have already adopted sector guidelines with the approval of the Health and Social-Health Plan and related resolutions, both in the Council and in the relevant Commission. The ISS Executive Committee and management will need to continue providing timely responses to issues that have long been a priority. Another fundamental issue concerns people with disabilities and inclusion, which cannot be limited to removing architectural barriers but must guarantee equal opportunities in every dimension of social life — school, work, culture and sport. We must support people throughout their entire life project and address, with adequate tools, the concern over “what happens after us,” which weighs on so many parents and family members. Likewise, we must protect the elderly, valuing their role and combating social isolation. Increased life expectancy is an achievement, but it requires a reorganization of social-health services, home care and residential facilities, favouring people’s ability to remain in their own living environment. In the coming months, the law on End-of-Life care will also be approved, to which our party has contributed, reaffirming and recognizing the right to palliative care and to a dignified accompaniment of the sick person until the end of life, avoiding any prospect of loneliness, therapeutic abandonment or the possibility of euthanasia.

DIGNITY OF THE PERSON, FAMILY, EDUCATION AND CULTURE
For the Christian Democracy, protecting the dignity of every person and promoting the common good are the guiding principles of our political action. The good of the person comes before the State, before the market, and before any organized interest. The PDCS has always placed the family at the centre of its political initiative, working to provide concrete tools of support, because the family is the first community in which a person is welcomed, educated, accompanied and helped in times of difficulty. In the first days of September, the Secretary of State for Justice, Stefano Canti, who also holds the family portfolio and whom I thank for his work, will bring the family law to the Council for final approval. Among the measures promoted are the expansion of maternity protections, the strengthening of paternity leave, financial support for the birth of a child, and recognition of the role of the family caregiver. We have also worked to build more comprehensive measures in support of birth rates and parenthood. These are valuable results that add to the many achieved by our party and by the DC’s Women’s Movement throughout its history, such as parental leave and part-time work arrangements, women’s right to vote, the retention of citizenship, and the equalization of women’s role in labour law and family law. The dignity of the person is also protected through a school system capable of educating, including and shaping conscious citizens. School is not merely a place where knowledge is transmitted. It is one of the main spaces in which personality, civic sense, relational skills and respect for others are built. I thank the Secretary of State for Education, Teodoro Lonfernini, for his commitment to the quality and expansion of educational offerings, both in the academic high school track and in technical-vocational education. San Marino’s school system is undergoing progressive transformation, and its evolution must be monitored, increasingly favouring the well-being of children and young people and valuing the role of teachers, within an ever-closer relationship between school and family.

DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGIC AUTONOMY
San Marino cannot think about its future without addressing the issue of its strategic autonomy in various sectors. The creation of tools for more efficient management of public IT infrastructure, the development of a secure data centre, and the investments in digital transformation that we will make in the coming years will modernize the Republic, increasing information security and simplifying the relationship between citizens, businesses and public administration. Another significant sector is energy. The rise in prices and international tensions in recent years have shown how risky it can be to depend entirely on external sources. We must accelerate the production of renewable energy and the energy efficiency of public and private buildings, building a plan that allows the Republic to produce a growing share of the energy it consumes. Another important issue is water supply. Water is an essential resource, and we cannot wait for emergencies before acting. Investment is needed in networks, in reducing losses, in collection and storage capacity, in water reuse, and in protecting available sources. Climate change is making periods of drought and extreme weather events more frequent. Water management must therefore become an integral part of the country’s strategic planning. In recent years, San Marino has shown it has significant tourism and sports potential. But we believe a further step is needed, with a strong, structured tourism policy capable of looking beyond individual events and building a strategic proposal that considers the hotel infrastructure and services to be developed, aimed at increasing visitors’ length of stay, and further enhancing our historic centre, the Castles, our excellences, the products of our land and our uniqueness. The development of sports infrastructure that can expand opportunities for our athletes, across all disciplines, and increase our country’s attractiveness on the international stage, must also be planned, building on the regulatory tools already in place. These development policies cannot be addressed piecemeal, nor within a single legislature. That is why we must work together on defining a national infrastructure plan, focusing on projects that can be implemented immediately while sharing decisions that require multi-year planning. As a political force, the Christian Democracy will provide its contribution to building this vision for the country, together with whoever wishes to join us.

THE ROLE OF THE PDCS WITHIN THE EUROPEAN PEOPLE’S PARTY
The Christian Democratic tradition that guides our political action in the Republic, and that inspires our choices in all the areas outlined above, is the same tradition that binds us to the family of the European People’s Party — a tradition built on peace, freedom, solidarity, subsidiarity, and recognition of the irreducible dignity of every human being. This year will be a special one for the PDCS. Changes to EU regulations, aimed at further broadening the participation of non-member States in this great family, together with the association process our country has undertaken to integrate further, will allow our party to take a great leap forward. After years as an Observer Party within the EPP, since 1993, we will become an Associate Party, able to take part directly in decision-making processes alongside European political forces, within a shared space of rights, responsibilities, cooperation and solidarity. RELATIONS WITH POLITICAL FORCES In this legislature, we have repeatedly seen that when strategic interests for the Republic are at stake, the Sammarinese political system is still capable of finding common ground, beyond differing affiliations and sensibilities, building shared positions in the common responsibility towards the country. After the signing of the Association Agreement, San Marino will face decisive steps ahead, and on certain major issues it will become increasingly necessary to distinguish between what belongs to the normal dialectic between majority and opposition, and what instead requires a collective effort and a systemic vision. Within this framework, our relationship with Alleanza Riformista — a political force inspired by a liberal, socialist and reformist vision, with which the PDCS drew up the political and programmatic proposal for the Democrazia e Libertà coalition — holds particular value for us, in the conviction that there was political space to be built together, in order to give the country concrete answers in terms of stability, development, reform capacity and attention to social balance. Over these first two years of the legislature, this relationship has been consolidated through constant, loyal and respectful dialogue, and in the coming months we would like to find shared moments of reflection and joint planning, to strengthen our relationship and think together about the transformations awaiting San Marino, the priorities of the coming years, and the strategic choices our country will need to face in the near future. Dialogue on these issues will also continue to be open and constructive with Councillor Giovanna Cecchetti, representing the Sammarinese Reformist Socialist Party in the Council, who has recently returned to the political scene, and we will follow with attention the proposal for an aggregation process within the socialist area, as mandated by congress. This work, which begins within the coalition, we wish to carry out together with the entire majority, with which we have already achieved several fundamental objectives in such a short time, disproving the various naysayers who claimed this government would collapse quickly without achieving any results. It is true that finding the right balance with all the majority parties has not been easy, but after two years of working together, we have shown that we know how to find the right compromises and, above all, the operational capacity to give substance to the Government Programme that we want to carry through together, with the same commitment we have shown so far. For this reason, I am certain that Libera, whose contribution has been valuable on several issues, particularly in territorial development and energy resources, will continue to be a partner capable of dialogue and in-depth discussion on various topics, in the search for shared solutions attentive to the country’s sustainable growth. We have found valuable and effective cooperation with them. The same applies to the Party of Socialists and Democrats, with whom we have managed to share responsibilities and important decisions, despite coming from different political traditions, and with whom we have always sought and found cooperation and a willingness to contribute concretely to reform and to the country’s stability — a party that is rediscovering the dimensions of its own history and its roots. Dialogue with the opposition forces, which we have always tried to promote while respecting institutional roles, has met more closed doors than open ones, but has also shown some positive signs that encourage us to continue seeking as much involvement as possible. In this regard, I must highlight the constructive positions repeatedly taken by independent Councillor Michela Pelliccioni who, regarding the process of Association with the European Union, has on several occasions aligned herself with the majority, moving beyond the historic position of her group of origin. Europe is also a topic shared by Repubblica Futura, which has allowed for some moments of convergence — alternating with strong disagreements over events of the recent past. Unfortunately, the critical points raised in the final motion of our 2024 Congress have not seen substantial changes, but we hope new opportunities for constructive dialogue can arise. RETE too, with which the most marked political and cultural distances still remain, has always taken a constructive political approach regarding Association with the European Union, while maintaining profoundly different positions on institutional, economic and social issues, on which we will continue to engage. The distinctions repeatedly emphasized by DOMANI – Motus Liberi, which was the most critical party regarding the EU Association Agreement despite the shared government experience in the last legislature, have often led them into positions of political isolation, even within the opposition itself. Nevertheless, the common values shared make their party a partner with whom we will continue to seek, as far as possible, opportunities for dialogue and points of convergence. Our party will continue to play a role of balance, responsibility and synthesis, aware that dialogue does not mean giving up one’s own ideas or softening political differences. On the contrary, it means holding a coherent and strong position, while seeking a dialogue aimed at achieving a useful outcome for the country.