The Senate has definitively approved the Competition Bill, which thus – after more than two years of gestation and four readings in Parliament – becomes law. The Hall of Palazzo Madama gave the green light to the trust with 146 votes in favor and 113 against. At this point, the green light is granted in the final vote on the text.
The provision modifies the rules in various areas: from bills linked to the protected energy market to motor liability insurance, from pharmacies to the post office, from pay TV to telephone operators, passing through pension funds, professional fees and much more.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni entrusted his comment to Twitter:
#Senate definitively approves the competition law. Commitment maintained for the Government and the majority
- Paolo Gentiloni (@PaoloGentiloni) August 2th, 2017
The Competition and Market Authority, on the other hand, published a note: “The Antitrust expresses its satisfaction with the approval of the competition bill – we read – above all for the symbolic value that the adoption of this law assumes. It is an instrument envisaged since 2009 but which, today, has been used for the first time by the legislator. Certainly the backward steps of the approved version compared to the original text cannot be overlooked, however the direction is the right one: competition is a cornerstone for the development of the country, to lower prices, reduce inequalities, stimulate innovation and increase well-being of consumers. The troubled legislative process, which lasted over two years, requires a reflection on the opportunity for the future to resort to more rapid and incisive interventions: for example, not omnibus laws, but the adoption of sectoral measures, aimed at creating a system of rules in each market clear and transparent, an indispensable prerequisite for investment and economic growth".
Let us now see what are the main innovations introduced by the law.
PROTECTED ENERGY MARKET
The end of the protected electricity and gas market is set for July 2019, XNUMX. You will buy energy exactly as you buy telephone traffic from the various telephone operators. Electricity companies are already positioning themselves to win over customers who will have to switch from the current system, with quarterly tariffs decided by the Energy Authority, to the free market, in which households and businesses stipulate a contract with an operator of their own independently chosen. To guide consumers, the Authority has launched the portal Similar Protection where it is already possible to evaluate offers (with a discount for the first 12 months) on contractual models approved by the Authority
TELEPHONES AND PAY TV: GREEN LIGHT FOR TELEMATIC CANCELLATIONS
Anyone who wants to cancel a telephone contract or a pay TV subscription can do so with a simplified, entirely electronic procedure. Basically, users will be able to cancel the contract in the same way in which they activated it, for example by telephone.
CAR TPL: DISCOUNTS IN THE SOUTH AND WITH BLACK BOXES
There are discounts on motor liability insurance for those who install the black box and for virtuous motorists who do not cause accidents despite having lived for at least four years in one of the provinces with the highest accident rate. Within a year after the law comes into force, the government will adopt a decree on the obligation to install the black box. To compensate non-pecuniary damages from road accidents, the table of the Court of Milan will be used.
PENSION FUNDS: EARLY BENEFIT FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
Even those who have been unemployed for 24 months (until now they needed 48) will be able to obtain an advance of the supplementary pension annuity from their supplementary pension fund in the form of a temporary annuity. However, they will have to accrue the requirements for the compulsory pension within 5 years. Pension funds will be allowed to raise this limit up to 10 years.
PHARMACIES, 20% CAP TO CAPITAL COMPANIES
Capital companies will be able to control pharmacies, but will have to respect a 20% ceiling on a regional basis. Band C drugs continue to be sold only in pharmacies. Finally, pharmacies will be able to remain open even after the opening hours established by the competent authorities.
POSTAL MONOPOLY
Poste Italiane's monopoly on sending fines and notifications will end in September this year. Within 90 days of the entry into force of the law, Agcom will determine the requirements and obligations for issuing licenses to new operators.
PROFESSIONALS: ESTIMATE REQUIRED
All professionals must send their clients a written estimate of their remuneration and the conceivable charges relating to the assignment.
COMPANY OF ENGINEERS AND LAWYERS: NO MODIFICATION
The engineering companies remain outside the control of the relative Order, while the lawyer companies continue to have among the shareholders, for at least two thirds of the share capital, lawyers enrolled in the register.
BOOKING: THE HOTEL MAY REDUCE THE PRICES
Hoteliers will be able to apply better prices and conditions than those offered by intermediaries, including online ones such as Booking.
HIDDEN ADVERTISING
An agenda commits the government to regulating hidden advertising in the selfies that VIPs post online on their blogs or social profiles (billboards in the background, clothes with the brand in plain sight).
SRL SIMPLIFIED: YOU NEED THE NOTARY
The intervention of a notary will also be needed to set up simplified limited liability companies. In fact, the hypothesis of allowing the procedure only through private agreement was rejected.
