Presented by Marco Buti, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa Chair, the document argues that Tuscany needs to move beyond a low-wage, low-productivity model towards sustainable development, innovation, and strategic public–private investment. The authors underscored the urgency of the Manifesto by tracing the evolution of the Tuscan economy since the mid-1990s and highlighting recent shocks, including the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability, and the latest US tariffs.
A timely debate at the EUI
Opening the debate, EUI Secretary General Armando Barucco described the Institute as “the best place to discuss the Manifesto,” underlining its unique role in bridging academic research with urgent local and global challenges. By hosting the event, the EUI reaffirmed its commitment to contributing to future-oriented strategies for Tuscany, signalling that reindustrialisation is essential to turn economic fragility into resilience and secure a forward-looking role for the region in Europe.
Breaking out of a “bad equilibrium”
The Manifesto, written by Buti together with Stefano Casini Benvenuti (former Director of IRPET) and Alessandro Petretto (Professor Emeritus of Public Economics at the University of Florence), seeks to place industry back at the centre of public debate, proposing a new development model built on sustainability, equity, efficiency, and security. This, Buti argued, is essential for creating the resources needed to safeguard the region’s future.
Tuscany, he noted, reflects the broader Italian and European economic model: an advanced region, yet highly exposed to external shocks. Its export strength, concentrated in pharmaceuticals, machinery, and leather goods, also reveals vulnerability through its heavy dependence on the US market.
“We are trapped in a bad equilibrium. We are experiencing what can be called extensive growth, characterised by high-intensity employment, but low-quality jobs, meaning low productivity and low wages. [...] And this is a bad equilibrium, because there is no strong incentive, neither from the demand nor the supply side, to move away from it,” Buti said.
Turning challenges into opportunities
Buti called for actively managing “creative destruction” through forward-looking industrial policy at the regional, national, and EU levels to confront these issues. Key measures include:
- containing costs and shortening supply chains through import substitution,
- strengthening education and training to attract young talent.
- shifting savings into productive investment, moving away from a bank-centred model reliant on collateral.
The authors emphasised that reindustrialisation must be understood not merely as an economic adjustment, but as a strategic rethink of Tuscany’s future role in Europe. Petretto warned that “if we want an innovative and competitive industrial system, we must focus on the source: creating and supporting entrepreneurs, because without convenience and targeted public intervention, development cannot emerge.”
Echoing this sense of urgency, Casini Benvenuti concluded: “We are at a crucial moment: when we lose sectors, going back is almost impossible. That is why this manifesto was born: to rebuild, to bring forces together, and to imagine something new.”
The full version of the Manifesto is available on Cadmus, in both English and Italian.