After weeks of negotiations, three majority summits and a council of ministers that ended late at night, the Government approved the simplification decree with the formula "unless agreed" (that is, the Executive reserves the right to modify the text before submitting it to the Parliament, which can then in turn amend it). Green light also for the budget adjustment, the state account and the National Reform Plan (Pnr), which contains the guidelines for government action in the coming years and will be included in the update note to the Def, to be sent to Brussels by September.
The simplification decree - which the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, defined as "the mother of all reforms - is made up of about 50 articles, spread over a hundred pages. It is an articulated complex, which has long divided the majority, to the point that a definitive square has not yet been found on many issues. In any case, various government sources - leaving Palazzo Chigi - have assured that most of the problems have been resolved that the "subject to agreements" concerns a few "technical, non-political" aspects.
TAX DAMAGE AND ABUSE OF OFFICE
No problem with regard to the rules on the digitization of the public administration, the simplification of administrative procedures and support for the green economy. On the other hand, the modification of the crimes of tax damage and abuse of office is more complex, to the point that Italia Viva has entered its reservation in the minutes. Basically, today anyone who obtains an advantage by violating "rules of the law or regulation" commits abuse of office, while the amendment provides that only those who violate "specific rules of conduct expressly provided for by law or by acts having the force of law and from which margins of discretion remain".
THE “GENOA MODEL”
Furthermore, the simplification decree does not yet contain a fundamental annex: the list of 40-50 major works considered priorities to be released and which will therefore be entrusted to commissioners (yet to be named: there is time until the end of the year). AND the much discussed “Genoa model”, applied for the reconstruction of the former Morandi bridge, which provides for the possibility for commissioners and contracting stations to act as an exception to the Procurement Code and all the rules (except criminal, anti-mafia and occupational safety) to deal with the negative effects of the Covid-19 emergency. The Pd and Leu have raised concerns about this chapter, but in the end it seems that a general agreement has been found, given that the list is part of the "Italia Veloce" plan of the infrastructure ministry, one of the annexes to the Pnr.
The deputy minister at the Mef, Misiani, explained that the provision unlocks minor works (up to 150 thousand euros) which represent 70% of the construction sites carried out by the Municipalities, with the aim of making spending possible immediately. However, the crux of the great works remains.
COUNT'S WORDS
“We will have simpler and faster procurement, no tender under 150 thousand euros: there will be a direct assignment, which is now established within 40 thousand euros and will be raised to 150 thousand euros", so that "the public administrations will immediately start" the works useful to the individual communities. This was stated by the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, during a press conference at Palazzo Chigi on the simplification decree.
“Works and construction sites are not blocked: for urgent Covid-19 emergency interventions the contracting authorities will have the obligation to continue to stipulate contracts even in the presence of a dispute – he added – unless there is a provision of the judge which expressly blocks the contracting station”.
In particular, Conte spoke of "Fast Italy”, a plan of “130 strategic works identified by MIT to which we add the works for the Cortina Olympics, those for health care, hydrogeological instability, schools, barracks, prisons and the police” and which will start immediately thanks to the new regulations. The Premier has listed some stretches of high speed whose construction sites will start first: "Salerno-Reggio Calabria, Palermo -Catania-Messina, Pescara-Rome, Genoa-Ventimiglia, Venice -Trieste, Brescia-Verona"; then there will also be “the Gronda, the Ionian 106, the expansion of Salaria and Pontina, the Ragusana, the bridge of Liguria”, and again “the commissioning of 9 Sardinian dams and in Lombardy the works for the Olympics”.
In terms of procurement, "we do not introduce amnesties, we do not want abuse but we introduce a simpler and faster procedure for environmental impact assessment".
The Premier then spoke of “a small revolution concerning public officials: there will be more risks for the official who holds proceedings and works at a standstill. For this experimental period, the liability before the Court of Auditors will be limited to fraud only. Liability will remain due to omissions, inertia, let's go and hit those who don't and those who don't".
As for bureaucracy, "we will have less paperwork", because in the PA "everything can be done with the Spid or the electronic identity card".
