Thousands of artisan realities risk collapse. The Aepi Confederation is sounding the alarm, the European Association of Professionals and Businesses, together with its associate Federdat.
"Time is up and now we are addressing the President of the Republic Serio Mattarella directly", regarding the procedure for access to funds for the COVID-19 emergency provided by the Government, from which many artisan SMEs risk being excluded.
After contacting INPS and the Minister of Labour, Nadia Catalfo, the association is now directly addressing the guarantor of the Constitution to protect the 26 employers' and professional associations of over 238 businesses and 9 professionals that the Confederation represents.
“Last week – announces Mino Dino, President of Aepi – we asked for a verification and acceptance of our requests, but there was no response. And now we will be forced to resort to legal action”.
The tones are getting louder to denounce corporate abuses. The letter refers to the funding channel of FSBA. According to the Bilateral Solidarity Fund for handicrafts, in order to obtain the COVID-19 check, handicraft businesses must regularize 36 months of contributions and adhere, compulsorily, to a bilateral body.
These are stringent conditions, according to the Confederation, to be able to access the resources for layoffs. Firstly, being public money, the check should be accessible to all craft businesses, with no obligation to register with a private fund. On the contrary, in this way, these companies are deprived of vital resources not only for their business continuity, but above all for their survival.
Secondly, the monthly payments could even reach thousands of euros. Claim the payment of 36 monthly installments, claims Aepi, would mean completely canceling the support.
Furthermore, having been called into question "the principles of the Constitution, in matters of freedom of association and union and the rules of EU competition law", the association asks President Mattarella to intervene urgently, guaranteeing that the financial costs of the service are borne by the state budget and not the companies themselves.
The requests are simple: the Fund must guarantee the use of the ordinary allowance by all companies on the basis of the only requirement necessary for access, i.e. the authorization code, as required by the INPS. Along with the immediate implementation of the necessary procedures for the creation of an Emens code and F24, separate for funding from the Fund, so that constitutional rights are guaranteed.
Finally, the letter underlines the importance of an intervention in support of artisan enterprises, especially in such a delicate moment, which cannot risk losing "their position on national and international markets".
