Italy is changing, politics is changing and now entrepreneurs need to do their part by seizing all the opportunities that Italy offers. This is the message that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wanted to convey to the audience of the Ambrosetti workshop, at his premiere in Cernobbio. The premier, who last year had deserted the traditional meeting of the finance elite at Villa d'Este in favor of Giussago for the inauguration of the Rubinetterie Bresciane plant, arrived around 14.15 pm, landing with a helicopter in the garden of Villa d'Este and accompanied by Andrea Guerra, a former Luxottica manager who has become an adviser to the premier and is now about to leave for Eataly. “There are thirty months ahead of us – he wanted to shake the entrepreneurs in the room – we need to get out of the dynamics in which the entrepreneur must resist, Italy is a mine of opportunities. Italy must stop feeling sorry for itself and we must stop thinking that it is the homeland of alibis”. Renzi began by speaking of an Italy that "is no longer Europe's economic problem", of a solid, stable and strong country, in which "an extraordinary class of entrepreneurs has resisted in crises by demonstrating that they can achieve individual successes in the world ” and in which a new generation is changing the rules of the game and the approach to politics (“whether for better or for worse we will see it in the next citizens' elections”, he added). But he also spoke of an "unavoidable and undeniable change" and of a country that must become "simpler" and "just". "A simpler country - he explained - means more capable of having someone responsible, a culprit, for what happens and doesn't happen". Full speed ahead, therefore, with reforms that simplify and with tax cuts.
AT WORK WE HAVE TURNED THE LEGEND IN ONE YEAR
Renzi hasn't given up on taking a snapshot of the government's 18 months: the increase in jobs which, according to Istat data, have risen by 236 ("927 were lost in the crisis, the 20% recovery is not sufficient,” he specified); the 27% drop in layoffs; the labor reform carried out in a year ("A year ago – he recalled – the discussion was all about article 18, now article 18 is no longer there. This means that Italy has turned the page on employment") when was judged impossible and without forgetting that it took Germany 3 years asking to exceed the 3% deficit. “Italy – Renzi pointed out – did it in one year without exceeding 3% and respecting the fiscal compact”.
GDP, ITALY HAS RETURNED TO THE GROUP UK AND SPAIN GROW WITH THE DEFICIT
Even the data on GDP, which is certainly not a toast but which is in line with European growth, should be read in the right light for Renzi: "Only three times in the past has GDP in Italy been in line with the European average", he said Renzi referring to some quarterly data from 1995, 2000 and 2005, “for all the other quarters it was more negative. Italy is like a cyclist who has returned to the group after a puncture. But the group goes slow. We want to be leaders, have the pink jersey, and therefore race more". Of course, there are countries that run faster. “But up to a certain point”, Renzi points out, bringing the UK and Spain cases to the stage. “They have levers that we don't have – he said – In the UK David Cameron brought the deficit to 5% to cut taxes and Spain for the reforms in three years made an average deficit of 3%. If we made a 6% deficit we would have a margin of 64 billion euros. I'll also let you grow with this margin”. "It's clear that it's not good for us – he added – it's our children who ask us not to make more debt".
GO ON WITH THE REDUCTION OF TAXES
Renzi's recipe goes through reforms and tax cuts and the ability to seize opportunities. “The reform of the electoral law – he said – means that whoever arrives first wins. We must have a government every five years, we have been world champions of alibis, whoever arrives first must have the possibility of responding to whoever elected him". And he has marked the schedule for the tax operation which will take place over five years. After the 80 euros and Irap in 2015, in 2016 there will be an operation on the house. "Many turn up their noses - said Renzi - for ten years we have been discussing the house, we have made it a competition of acronyms, Tasi and pay, next year Imu, Tasi will no longer be paid", not even on bolted and farmland. In 2017 it will then be the turn of IRES and in 2018 of Irpef.
ANSWERS TO ENTREPRENEURS IN THE ROOM
The prime minister, continuing his speech behind closed doors, then answered some questions posed by the entrepreneurs and managers in the room on various issues on the table: on pensions, he reassured, there will be no other speeches; removing taxes on the house is a psychological priority, because it is the tax most hated by Italians, and for this reason it takes precedence over personal income tax; the agreement on bargaining and union representation is a matter for the parties that have to meet but if an agreement is not found, the government will intervene because it is a fundamental issue for modernisation. Finally, there is openness in the Senate but article 2 cannot be touched because it would mean dismantling the entire constitutional reform.
