In three years over 40 million have been reimbursed by companies to 737.000 consumers. This was underlined by the president of the Competition and Market Authority, Roberto Rustichelli, in the annual report in Parliament. It is the dysfunctions of Justice, he observed, that penalizes consumers in asking for protection for violated rights. Therefore, the national Antitrust acts to help them. But with regard to the great global giants, "choral efforts by the EU" are needed. And therefore the European Sovereign Fund is welcome. All the more so “Inflation is a hateful tax which affects the needy more than the rich, reduces the value of savings and weighs particularly heavily on fixed-income earners. Yet there are those who get exponential benefits from the surge in consumer prices, including banks and electricity companies, Rustichelli underlined again.
Rustichelli: "Banks and electricity companies have increased margins, 55% of households have eroded savings"
“During 2022 more than half of the families (55% ed.) have eroded their savings”, explained Rustichelli, underlining that “For the 20% of the least well-off families, the actual inflation is almost double that of the richest families”.
A reality that clashes with the advantages enjoyed by energy companies and banks. Advantages easily visible in the numbers: last year, the EBITDA of the main companies Italian electricity companies grew by over 16 billion, plus 25% over the previous year, while the margins of the top ten Italian banks, reached 29 billion euros, 20% more than in 2021.
Rustichelli: “Loan rates on the rise, deposit rates at a standstill”
“The sharp increase in the rates charged to households and businesses for bank loans was not followed by a corresponding increase dand the interest rates recognized to depositors. The president of the ECB herself, Christine Lagarde, highlighted the need for a dialogue between banks and customers that leads to a higher remuneration of deposits and savings,” said Rustichelli.
The role of the Antitrust: "Benefits for businesses and consumers for around 1 billion in 2022"
In this context, according to Rustichelli, the role of the Antitrust has been fundamental: "In the last three years 737.000 consumers have received reimbursements from companies for over 40 million euros", he explained. “The costs – he continued – the times and uncertainties related to access to justice in our country are still such as to induce many consumers to desist from requesting judicial protection for compensation for their violated rights. Aware of this situation, the Authority has continued to enhance and fully implement the power to accept catering commitments by companies for the benefit of consumers affected by the infringement, in order to ensure the broadest and most concrete satisfaction of consumers with its provision damaged".
Turning to the figures, the Antitrust president underlined that "from the estimate made according to the consolidated methodology developed by the OECD, it emerges that the Authority's interventions in the field of competition have generated benefits for businesses and consumers of around one billion in 2022 and five and a half billion in the last four years”. Benefits arrived thanks to an activity understood: "In the period January 2022 - May 2023, the Authority concluded 158 proceedings in the field of consumer protection, of which 80 with ascertainment of the infringement and 66 with the acceptance of the commitments. The amount of fines imposed amounted to over 90 million euro, while 114 were dismissed following the adaptation of the conduct of companies to the activity of moral suasion carried out in cases characterized by less seriousness”, he explained.
Rustichelli: "The EU sovereign wealth fund is a path to be followed with courage"
Rustichelli then spoke of the possible creation of the European sovereign wealth fund, defining it "a way forward with courage and determination, putting aside the simpler but ephemeral recourse to national support measures, even more so at a time when the framework of international competition is becoming more challenging and, therefore, it is necessary to continue the concerted efforts to acquire adequate tools ”.
"This is the guideline to follow so that Europe can respond to the new challenges in a coordinated way and thus maintain a leading role on the global scene” he added.
Speaking instead of non-European giants, the number one of the Antitrust underlined “The traditional antitrust safeguards against the abuse of market power can certainly guarantee equal opportunities for companies and thereby favor the competitive game but often by themselves they are not enough to give birth to innovative companies or to allow those exist to withstand the competition of non-European giants sometimes strongly supported by their respective countries".
