The government starts a counterattack on the liberalization decree. The prime minister took care of playing the charge Mario Monti, which launched last night a clear warning to lobbies: “We will not back down. There are changes that we can accept, others that we cannot and will not accept".
At stake are not only taxi licenses and the number of pharmacies. In the battle with professional categories the Government must demonstrate that it can resist pressure. It's also one credibility issue, in Parliament and abroad. And these are precisely the decisive days to understand in the end who will be able to win. At the moment however the text is stranded in Senate Industry Committee and before the final approval – which should arrive on March 23 – they will be necessary three more readings, including the votes in the two chambers.
IMU TO THE CHURCH
The government presented today in the Senate an amendment on the exemption from the new single municipal tax which benefits non-commercial entities, including the Church. Monti informed the Council of Ministers of this - reports a note from Palazzo Chigi - underlining the "close relevance" of the question to the issue of competition. The amendment provides for the exemption for properties in which a non-commercial activity is carried out exclusively, while for 'mixed' properties the exemption is limited to only the fraction of the unit of the property in which the activity is carried out non-commercial in nature.
The news “determines positive effects on revenue, also in the light of the more effective contrast to evasive phenomena and abuses that derive from it. However, in line with the behavior of this Government in similar cases, it is not considered appropriate to proceed with a preventive quantification of the higher revenues. The latter will be ascertained in the final balance and may be allocated, for the share due to the state, to the reduction of the tax burden".
TAXI
Until yesterday it seemed that the taxi driver lobby – apparently invulnerable – had also resisted the onslaught of the technicians. Two days ago the Executive had approved the amendment which envisaged returning to the mayors the power to decide on the granting of licences, effectively removing the power from the Transport Authority - which will be born on May 31st - whose opinion would have been mandatory but "not binding".
The last ones however, two words have disappeared from the latest version of the by now infamous article 36. However, it seems that the government is not satisfied and is aiming for a clearer wording, returning on this point to the original wording of the decree, which assigned full decision-making powers to the new Authority.
PHARMACIES
On the issue of pharmacies it is a fight between accountants. Everything is played on a number, or rather on a relationship: the one between the number of establishments and the number of citizens. The decree established the opening of five thousand new pharmacies, thus reaching a proportion of one for every 3.000 inhabitants. The Pd would like this threshold to be respected, while the Pdl would like to raise it to 3.500, to the happiness of Federfarma.
A compromise is likely to be reached in the end, by staring the ratio at 3.300. As for parapharmacies, the ban on the sale of class C drugs will remain for them, but they will be able to sell veterinary products and galenic solutions ("preparations", so to speak). Furthermore, in future competitions for the opening of new pharmacies, the owners of parapharmacies will have a reserved quota of 30%.
PROFESSIONALS
While the lawyers froth anger and announce a seven-day strike, the government seems willing to continue along the path already indicated by the decree: obligation of a written estimate and abolition of the minimum tariffs, which should be replaced by new thresholds set within four months by the ministry's technicians of Justice.
ENI-SNAM SEPARATION
This is one of the few central nodes on which a definitive agreement has already been reached. By 31 May a decree must arrive to establish the separation, which in turn must be completed within the following 18 months.
gas stations
Mon amour credit card. Motorists who purchase up to 100 euros of fuel with electronic payment will not pay any commission. The end of the exclusivity between the manager and the company, however, will continue to concern only the petrol station owners of their plant, that is to say a narrow minority.
BANKS: FREE ACCOUNT FOR PENSIONS UP TO 1.500 EUROS
Institutions that require customers to take out life insurance to take out mortgages or loans will have to accept the policy chosen by the customer on the market, without prejudice to the obligation for banks to present at least two estimates from companies not related to them. Furthermore, banks will not be able to force those who want to take out a mortgage to also open a current account. Finally, retirees who receive checks of up to 1.500 euros will be able to open an account for free. To know more, click here.
AUTO TPL, NO REFUNDS FOR MINOR INJURIES
The lumbago becomes just a painful ache again. In the eyes of the insurance companies, your value will be equal to zero, as will that of all the so-called "minor injuries", i.e. those that cannot be demonstrated with an objective clinical examination. By saying goodbye to these (very widespread) reparations, Parliament satisfies a long-standing request from ANIA.
Also on the insurance front, two new databases will be created for the fight against motor liability fraud: one for witnesses and one for injured parties. The new arrivals will be added to the database of claims managed by Isvap. In addition, the penalties are being increased for those who try to defraud companies with the same old tricks: damage to an insured property, self-mutilation... In all these cases, the minimum sentence goes from six months to one year and the maximum from four years to five years .
