The Public Administration bill provides for cuts to the Chamber of Commerce system, and therefore, side by side, to aid for businesses. Precisely it is calculated - according to the study published by CGIA and Unioncamere Veneto - that companies will lack 400 million euros in investments in exports, credit, consumption, innovation and training, while they will enjoy savings of just over 5 euros per month. To add to these effects, the 2.500 jobs at risk and a 167 million increase for state coffers, divided into: 89 million allocated for personnel reabsorption, another 22 in social security payments paid today by the Sicilian Chambers of Commerce, and 46 million among minors payments, taxes and fees.
Similar cuts will therefore weigh heavily on those institutions, the Chambers of Commerce, which have functioned as real life preservers, especially in times of crisis. In 2012 alone, in fact, 81,6 million euros were disbursed to support credit, while for the current year the stability pact obliges them to allocate a good 70 million to the Confidi system. In the study in question, it is also underlined that among the public services, that of the Chamber of Commerce system is one of the most appreciated by the companies that benefit from it: in fact, percentages between 80% and 90% are recorded both among companies with fewer than 50 employees than among those with higher numbers of employees.
The document then reads words about the efficiency and the system of the Chambers of Commerce. These weigh only 0,2% on public spending by the State, represented by 1,8 billion compared to 715 of Italian public spending. It should be underlined that the Chamber of Commerce system is, among the public bodies, the one that most refers to self-financing: out of every 100 euros of expenditure, as many as 81 come from internal sources, while the remaining 29 from external resources, such as European contributions .
The President of Unioncamere Ferruccio Dardanello intervenes on this point, explaining: "Parliament's decision to accept our request to spread the cuts over three years gives us some time to carry forward the reform process that makes it even more effective and efficient the action of the Chambers of commerce in support of the development of businesses and territories. […] We are ready to make an additional effort – continues Dardanello – to speed up the process of a reorganization which will lead to a drastic reduction in the number of Chambers of Commerce [from 105 to no more than 50-60]. An effort that we are now asking the Government to support".
Lastly, Dardanello recalls that traditional regional Unions have already merged many Chambers of Commerce, and the rest are in the process of farming in a similar manner within the next few days.
