X LEGISLATURE 2008-2013
The regional commitment to the protection and promotion of linguistic minorities and cultural diversity in the region continues with Regional Law No. 20 of November 20, 2009, “Regulations for the protection and promotion of German-speaking minorities in Friuli Venezia Giulia.” Attention is also focused on the university sector and specialist training with Regional Law No. 2 of February 17, 2011, 'Funding for the regional university system' and Regional Law No. 14 of July 25, 2012, which provided for the establishment, promoted by the Region as a founding member, of the Merletti School Foundation in Gorizia, which replaced the Merletti School established in 1946. Regional Law No. 12 of May 31, 2012, “Regulation of regional port activities,” marked the first systematic transfer to the Region of administrative functions relating to port activities of national interest concerning ports classified as being of national importance, such as Monfalcone. On June 26, 2009, the President of the Regional Council, Edouard Ballaman, welcomed the G8 Foreign Ministers to Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia. His successor Maurizio Franz met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome on September 11, 2011, together with a delegation of regional council presidents, to present the Head of State with a copy of the book L’Italia delle Regioni, le Regioni d’Italia (Italy's Regions, Italy's Regional Councils). In Udine, Franz met with the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, XIV Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1989, and participated in the inauguration of the new hospital in Udine in January 2013.
