|
More from Italy on Deregulation of the whole country, by the looks of this? lol
I like the reference to the bakers dozen, or should that be half dozen?
........................................................
The Times (London)
September 21, 2006, Thursday
HEADLINE: Italy's uphill struggle to secure free competition
Protectionism is embedded in the nation's culture but change is taking place, says Richard Owen
What is the link between the spectacular row over Telecom Italia, frustrated attempts by British Gas to invest in Italy, and the freedom to buy aspirin in an Italian supermarket?
The answer, as the furore over possible "foreign" ownership of Telecom Italia shows, is a phenomenon that bedevils Romano Prodi as much as his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's apparently unshakeable attachment to protectionism.
Yesterday Italian shoppers gazed in wonder as basic non-prescription medicines such as aspirin went on sale in supermarkets for the first time, with prices 20 per cent lower than in pharmacies. "This is a victory for consumers," Carlo Rienzi, head of Codacons, the consumer association, said. The move is part of a liberalisation package formulated in July by Pierluigi Bersani, the Industry Minister, just two months after Signor Prodi took office, to bring Italy into line with the rest of Europe.
The package includes freeing up markets in sectors from taxi services, accountants and car insurance to law practices and bakeries, as well as a crackdown on tax dodgers.
It was greeted, however, with strikes and protests as those affected rose up to defend restrictive practices. "Taxi drivers are in revolt over deregulation of the taxi licensing system", while lawyers are furious over the abolition of a minimum-fee regime that exposes them to greater competition (and allows no win, no-fee practices to be introduced for the first time).
"Bakers object to the abolition of a 1956 law restricting the amount of bread that can be baked in any given district"; notaries to the disappearance of a regulation requiring their approval (for a large fee) for the sale of second-hand cars; bankers to the repeal of their right to charge clients who close their accounts.
Anyone who wants to buy a loaf of bread or find a taxi in a hurry can only applaud. The Government has watered down some of the provisions, but is -so far - sticking to the plan.
The protesters have the backing of the populist Signor Berlusconi, who has sought to exploit the protests to undermine the fragile Prodi Government, remarking that "rather than opening the way to liberalisation, this decree opens the way to fiscal and bureaucratic oppression". On the other hand Signor Berlusconi is open to the charge that when he was in power he failed to put through deregulation measures that might have been thought the natural territory of the Centre Right - apart from his law partially relaxing Italy's restrictive labour rules. As Signor Bersani tartly replied: "If Berlusconi believes these measures are oppressive, I can only deduce that we use different dictionaries."
For Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the forward-looking head of Fiat and President of Confindustria (the Italian CBI), the furore over the Bersani package illustrates just what is wrong with Italy -its excessive attachment to a cosy, "provincial" way of doing business based on family networks, gerontocracy and nepotism.
"(Italy) must become a more modern country which accepts competition a full 360 degrees," he said. Bravo, says Signor Prodi, formerly President of the European Commssion: liberalisation will allow Italy to "lose 10 kilos of fat and gain 5 kilos of muscle", not to mention saving Italian families up to Euro 1,000 (£ 670) a year. Yet events during the past week suggest that, when it comes to applying the principle of free competition and liberalisation to foreign investment, Signor Prodi himself can be accused of reverting to protectionist instincts. He reacted with alarm when Marco Tronchetti Provera suggested selling off Telecom Italia's mobile operation and putting it up for sale to overseas investors. Signor Prodi is accused not only of resisting this but proposing, through a trusted economic adviser, Angelo Rovati, that TI should be partly "renationalised", with its fixed-line operations subject to state supervision. The ensuing crisis has so far claimed several distinguished scalps and could in the end claim Signor Prodi's.
The reflex action can be explained partly by Signor Prodi's coalition problems: he relies heavily on communist parties wedded to state control. But what has come to the fore is an instinct favouring "Italianness" (Italianita), especially in sectors judged to be strategic or national assets. British Gas this week complained that its efforts to build a plant at Brindisi to bring Egyptian gas to the Italian network were being blocked. Signor Bersani's efforts to make energy sector decisions at national level have run into resistance from Italy's regions, and then there is the blocking of a Euro 15 billion merger between the Spanish road toll operator Abertis and Autostrade (a subsidiary of Benetton). However, if there is one sign that Italy may yet kick the protectionist habit, it is the arrival of Mario Draghi as the new Governor of the Bank of Italy in May after the fall of Antonio Fazio, the embodiment of the Italian old boy network.
The bank sector remains provincial, old fashioned and focused on savings rather than venture capital. But Signor Draghi's first words on taking over were "more competition among enterprises and no protectionism". Competition, he said, was "the best operator of social justice, all the more so in a society like Italy where historically the privileges of few are founded on the protection of the state...We have to react with optimism and initiatives, not with melancholic regrets for ancient protectionism".
..............................................................
|
Login
Register
FAQ
