“Italy is still one of the OECD countries with the highest regulation in the various sectors of the economy”: theinvestigation that the Productive Activities commission of the Chamber is launching on competition in Italy and on liberalisations. Just while the government is preparing to introduce forms of liberalization in various sectors, the objective that the deputies set themselves is to verify "which are the sectors of our economy in which the degree of competition could be improved and what the impact of targeted interventions could be". A work that could be "fundamental in the perspective of introducing targeted legislative changes".
The start of the investigation - which will not last more than three months - was unanimously approved. “The liberalisations– underlined in the program of hearings drawn up by the commission – introduce competitive mechanisms that push less efficient firms out of the market, favoring the reallocation of production factors towards higher productivity firms; they lead to an increase in the productivity of existing firms; and in sectors in which the price elasticity of demand is high, competition forces companies to cut operating costs”. But as far as Italy is concerned, the process of reducing the obstacles to competition "has been slower and has accumulated increasingly evident delays". Not only that: "the rate of competitiveness that has been determined and the benefits for consumers have often been lower than expected".
Nourished the audition book. A list that sees the ministers of the Economy (and therefore Monti) and of Development. Then the Antitrust and the Energy and Communications Authorities. Followed by: State-Regions, Abi, Isvap, producers' associations (Confindustria, Business Network) and consumers, the permanent observatory on the application of competition rules, scholars and experts.
