Consob and the Antitrust, the League tries again. The Lega's old desire to move the two Authorities to Milan is once again topical with the renewed bill presented by the Carroccio deputy Silvana Andreina Comaroli. A movement that was intercepted by MF in today's edition. It is not the first time that Comaroli has attempted the operation: already in the last legislature he had made it one of his flagships, which fortunately remained a dead letter. But now that the Minister for Regional Affairs Roberto Calderoli returns to the office with differentiated Autonomy – interpreted in Northern League sauce as a transfer of resources from South to North – here is where the shift of the Authorities also regains strength.
Authority in Milan: the precedents
"On 23 July, at 11.30, the ministries, mine, Bossi's and Tremonti's will open in Monza", announced in 2011 the then Minister of Simplification Calderoli at the Lega's summer party in Besozzo, in the province of Varese. The League brought up one of the hottest issues of the season, that of moving some ministries to the North, while Umberto Bossi once again pressed the reforms: "if they don't arrive, the League goes to the elections alone".
On 23 July 2011, the branches of the ministries of Simplification (Calderoli), Economy (Tremonti) and Reform (Bossi) were effectively inaugurated. Empty rooms, endless controversies and protests (outside), no computer or telephone at the Villa Reale in Monza. And on the other hand there was no need because the Berlusconi government ended, the transfer of ministries ended up submerged by the stamped paper, that of appeals to the Court. Mario Monti arrived at Palazzo Chigi and put a tombstone there. In the meantime, an estimate of the costs, made by Il Sole 24 Ore, estimated at 2,5 billion euros per year spending for 4 ministries in the North, as well as a few million for employees who, however, had no longer been transferred. On the other hand, the Monza Chamber of Commerce had, for example, estimated the value of the "Monza brand" at 800 million more following the transfer. A 5% added value compared to the same assessment without the ministerial offices, had recorded MonzaToday.
Authority in Milan: the ghost proposal
On 13 October 2022, Comaroli presented a new bill entitled "Transfer of the headquarters of the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange and of the Competition and Market Authority to the city of Milan" (Chamber Act 194). But the text is not available, there was no committee examination, the dossier has yet to be written. The key to understanding would be to bring the Supervisory Authorities closer to the companies they supervise, closing the Rome offices and leaving only those in Milan open. But both Consob and the Antitrust not only supervise the Milanese companies (FS, Tim, Vodafone, and many others have offices in Rome and in the rest of Italy) and need to have relations with the institutions (parliament, government, bank of Italy) with whom we communicate constantly. Not to mention the costs of such a move. And the fact that after Covid the physical offices of companies, such as the Authorities, are changing with remote work.
Also on 13 October, immediately after the opening of the post-election parliamentary work, Comaroli presented other proposals on various subjects: away from the amendment to article 33 of the Constitution regarding the financing of non-state schools, to fiscal measures , to "provisions on the subject of the port of the kirpan by citizens and foreigners of confession Sikhs legally resident in the territory of the Republic” (179).
How many will be destined to be discussed is difficult to say. What is certain is that the transfer of the Authorities seems rather to be intertwined with the political match on the Autonomies, of far greater importance. And to the renewals for Consob directors Giuseppe Maria Berruti, appointed by the Renzi government and expiring in February as well as Michael Ainis, a renowned constitutional lawyer who joined the Antitrust seven years ago and expires in March. These yes, it is predictable, they will not remain a dead letter.
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