The entrepreneurial State does not know how to win: it is often the loser. It's not exactly good news, but the judges of the Court of Auditors said that this is how things go in local public companies. Scrupulous checks have established that 32% of companies offering services of all kinds are making a loss. Little enthusiasm among those who oversee the management of these companies. The government and the Minister of Public Administration, Marianna Madia, are trying to reform everything in depth. The results, however, are still in progress.
The accounting judges have ascertained that local public companies employ 232 thousand employees for energy, water, waste, transport, health and social services. Every year they have a turnover of 60 billion euros for everything they offer. These are figures that thrill the top management of companies that provide services to people and businesses. But Italian capitalism has always taken these realities into account, many linked to local events and links with the territory. It is Italian economic history that has made the coexistence of two industrial dimensions that are so different and unique in Europe.
Yet, only 6,3% of the services managed in municipalities and extra-urban areas are entrusted with public tenders. If it is not a positional income, we are close, since competition has been the rule in essential services for years. For the government, this point will have to be removed with the reform. According to other economists, we are dealing with a case of industrial dwarfism in strategic sectors.
Another issue connected to the audit by the Court of Auditors is prices. Over the past five years, the prices of services offered by local public companies have increased by 12,1% compared to an average growth of 1,9% in the consumer price index. If the European way to improve the quality of services and management costs is competitiveness, we must expect plans for rationalisation, disposal and further opening up to the market.
Confartigianato also intervenes on the specific theme. According to the Head of the Research Department, Enrico Quintavalle, of the 2.558 companies with capital owned by the institutions, 747 are going to be sold, 118 are dealing with merger operations and 785 may no longer have local authorities among the shareholders. Not an easy journey overall.
