"The main antidotes to fight the spread of corruption - a real hidden tax for the economic system - are effective competition, certainty of the law and red tape, so as to reduce the margins of discretion of interventions in the economic sphere". This was stated by the president of the Antitrust, Giovanni Pitruzzella, in his annual report to the Chamber, also underlining the "extraordinary work" of the Authority chaired by Raffaele Cantone. In all, during 2014, the Authority imposed fines for 186 million euros, to which another 2015 million have been added since the beginning of 80, for a total of 266 million, resources that flow into public finance.
Here are the most significant passages of Pitruzzella's report.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: STRENGTHEN PREVENTIVE MEASURES
“The pathological phase of the post-charge bans has been practically eliminated thanks to the intense consultative activity – said the number one of the Antitrust Authority, whose 25th anniversary is celebrated this year -, but at a regulatory level, however, the reform interventions necessary to strengthen the preventive measures and the enforcement powers of the Authority still need to be implemented, continuing the process of the bill under discussion in Parliament. As repeatedly pointed out by the Authority, above all a reformulation of the notion of conflict of interest which gives relevance, on the basis of the solutions accepted at international level, to the dangerous situation appears essential”.
BROADBAND NETWORK AN OPERATOR CAN BECOME AN INCOME
“It is necessary to favor the rapid development of an ultrabroadband network, without which the new digital services will not have the necessary infrastructure to develop. However, it should be noted that the control by a vertically integrated operator of the fixed network infrastructure, used for internet access, in the absence of infrastructural competition, can become a rent if there are no suitable guarantees to ensure that the holder of the infrastructure allows access to the network, under non-discriminatory conditions, to other operators”.
In this sense, Pitruzzella recalled that the Council of State recently confirmed the fine of 103,8 million euros imposed by the Antitrust on Telecom "for having made it difficult for other operators to access their network". The goal "is within reach" after the launch of the government's broadband strategy, he concluded, "which obviously falls under the industrial policy choices to ensure an efficient infrastructural set-up, without prejudice to the need to implement the same in a truly competitive environment. Now it's up to companies to do their part”.
LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES: TOO MANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION
According to the president of the Antitrust, "aside from the conduct of businesses, there are still too many obstacles in local public services that depress competition and innovation, creating privileges and positional rents in favor of a limited number of operators, often of a public nature. For this reason, on several occasions, the Authority has requested the removal of measures which guaranteed the extension of reserves to liberalized activities or in any case not falling within the area of exclusivity provided for by law and invoked compliance with the stringent requirements prescribed by the law European Union to justify in-house assignments and the exemptions from competition deriving from them. In this sector, competition both in and for the market remains the preferable option with a view to reducing public spending and increasing the efficiency of services provided to citizens”.
ENERGY AND WATER: HATEFUL CASES AGAINST CONSUMERS
Pitruzzella then said that "the Authority has intensified enforcement in the electricity, gas and water sectors, where particularly odious cases have been reported of activation of unsolicited supplies, invoicing of large sums for presumed consumption, accompanied in some cases by refusals of installments, threats of secondment, initiation of procedures for the collection of non-payments".
The full text of Pitruzzella's Report
