The Italian energy market is once again in turmoil. The Single Buyer has launched the portal to compare offers for electricity and gas. It does this while the government studies un postponement of the abolition of the protected market in July 2019 to when it is not known. The Buyer's site collects the indications of the Energy Authority on costs for households and large and small businesses. You can consult the offers and choose the most convenient one. Everyone will opt for the one that best suits their needs, given consumption and needs. But small and medium-sized enterprises continue to feel penalised. Confartigianato has once again asked for a reduction in the prices charged on a large scale. He accuses the Italian system of facilitating large industrial groups to the detriment of SMEs. The controversial point is the tax and parafiscal impositions, which have had an impact on companies' budgets since last year. Precisely those that are driving Italian exports.
Confartigianato Lombardia leads the protest and calls for the equalization of craft businesses with large energy-intensive groups. The state applies discounts to adults that it doesn't offer us, this is the leitmotif of the protest. According to their study, the craftsmen pay about 30% more for energy than their European competitors. At the end of 2017, the economic weight of this gap was 383 euros more than in the last quarter and 11.500 the average annual cost of energy for a small business. Is it possible to stay on the market with this system handicap? System, in fact, is the recurring magic word in the controversy over the final cost. These are tax charges Made in Italy heavy compared to the averages per employee applied in France, Germany and Spain. Small entrepreneurs say they are obsessed with an inverted principle: the less you consume, the more you pay. Precisely to support the general costs of the system that govern electricity and gas. With the Single Buyer portal, the situation could improve, even if taxation remains as it is.
At this point comes the other protagonist of the turmoil of these days: the government. The 2017 competition law established the abandonment of the protected energy market from 1 July 2019. The Five Stars said they wanted to review the law, to give battle, despite "there is still nothing concrete" explained the President of the Senate Industry Commission, Gianni Girotto. They do not share the choice of the free market, which should come later, perhaps never. If the protection is postponed, we will continue to consult prices charged by energy companies and verified by the Energy Authority. The free market exists in the other countries of the European Union, with the economic effects, also studied in Italy, on the decrease in prices to end customers. As is happening in other sectors, even on energy the confrontation between companies and political decision makers is destined to increase in tone, even more so when it is a question of not compromising the system.
