Precisely on the day in which the Government sent the decree implementing the obligation to be published in the Official Gazette, with entry into force set for 28 March next, the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Senate voted to postpone the fulfillment, with a whirlwind of dates still shrouded in the mists of confusion in which parliamentary work took place. Initially requested on 1 July 2014, as the consensus of the representatives of the various political groups grew, the extension was extended to 1 January 2015 and then to 1 June next year.
Regardless of the intentions of the parliamentarians, however, the Government's position will be decisive, which does not seem, for now, in favor of postponing the obligation to use electronic money, as a tool to ensure the traceability of payments included in the broader law enforcement strategy to tax evasion and money laundering.
The extension amendment was included by the Constitutional Affairs commission in decree law 150/13, the so-called "Milleproroghe", which at this point must face the examination of the assembly of Palazzo Madama, already starting today. It is here that it will be understood what will happen to the request to postpone the obligation of the Pos, since for now it is only an amendment voted in the commission, in the referring office, without the consent of the Government. The provision, then, will also have to pass to the scrutiny of the Chamber.
As is customary, the periodic decree law in which the Government inserts a series of extensions of expiring deadlines has become the forum for discussion of a myriad of requests from parliamentary sources as well as, consequently, for confrontation between political representatives and the Executive on often minor topics and local. In these situations, the work of the parliamentary commissions - which take place behind closed doors and with publicity ensured only by summary reports - become extremely confused, with transversal majorities that form from time to time, often difficult to read even for parliamentary officials called to record the meetings. The news that leaks "hot" are spread by the same parliamentarians who fueled the discussions and votes, and do not always reflect the objectivity of the decisions taken.
This dl 150 Milleproroghe is also encountering the usual difficulties. The Government's positions, not only those contained in the original law decree, but also those expressed in the discussions in the committee on the amendments from parliamentary sources, have been put in the minority several times and this provision also seems to be on the path of those hooligans omnibus which, as in the case of the recent "Salva Roma", have attracted criticism from the President of the Republic.
The amendment on the postponement of the obligation of the Pos, therefore, although voted in the Constitutional Affairs commission appears far from certain, linked as it is not only to the Government's orientation on this matter, but also to the fate of yet another decree law omnibus on the parliamentary path.
