The Italy of sweet idleness is the favorite destination of artists from all over the world. But certainly not foreign investors. The other side of the coin is that of an Italy of doing nothing, trapped between cumbersome laws, too slow a bureaucracy, too many lobbies and strong provincialism. It is no coincidence that in the last Doing Business report of the World Bank, Italy has dropped to 87th place in the ranking of countries where doing business is cheaper.
As we read in an interesting investigation by "Il Sole 24ore", there are 10 cases that cry out for revenge, which are the emblem of an Italy where the "administrative risks" are too high if you don't know the right person to whom ask to speed things up or turn a blind eye. Waste, costs, delays that hold back major works and push an ever-increasing number of Italian companies to go abroad and an ever-increasing number of foreign investors to look at Italy as an unattractive country from the point of view of doing business.
Rome-Latina – Since 2001 there has been talk of the motorway that should connect the two Lazio centres. But between postponements and appeals, the road will eventually be ready in 2018. In short, almost 17 years for a connection of less than 100 km. Final balance: a cost of around 2,7 billion euros.
OO Group – The company, one of the largest in Italy in the ophthalmic pharmaceutical sector, does not have an access road to its plant in Montegiorgio, in the Marche region, and is unable to access the neighboring lands to expand its plants and start research activities. The biomecia company has been fighting with the Municipality and the neighboring owners for years: "We just have to move elsewhere", the CEO says.
Occhiobello Outlet – The shopping center between Rovigo and Ferrara, the result of an investment of 40 million euros, will open a year late. Some traders had resorted to appealing in the name of an alleged lack of commercial licenses. In the end, the Council of State declared the appeal inadmissible, but "the costs of the delays are incalculable".
Solvay – The chemical multinational, which employs over 2000 families in the Livorno area, has been waiting for the renewal of the mining concessions for salt extraction for 10 years. Environmentalists oppose the concession but the Tuscan regional council will have to make a decision by the end of the week.
Monza-Rho – A 750 million project for provincial road 49, which has been underway for over 20 years, has again been questioned by citizens' committees.
Port of Augusta – In this case the impediments come from Europe. The port needs completion works (the calls for tenders are for 119 million euros), the funds are there but there is no go-ahead from Brussels which has blocked the process.
Cementir of Taranto – For environmentalists, the modernization of the Cementir plants corresponds to an increase in production and therefore in pollution. This is the reason for the Greens' opposition to the investment of about 190 million euros that the company wants to make in Taranto and which, according to the group, would not change the production values.
Paper waste – In the Lucca area, where around 20 paper mills are located, there is no construction site capable of disposing of the residues generated by production: the transport of waste (4.390 road trains traveling 2,2 million km) to suitable plants costs around 10 million a year . Considering that the opening of a plant, already present in the area, would involve an outlay of around 45 million, the investment would be amortized in a few years. But the opposition of local authorities and environmentalists have so far prevailed.
Valdastico – The famous road on the way to Germany, which connects Vicenza, but above all those small municipalities where lobbies know how to make themselves heard, with the North we have to do. But not because it is convenient in terms of kilometres, nor because it saves time, but between the associations of craftsmen and traders and Confindustria it seems that everyone is in agreement. The last bulwark that opposes it is the Province of Trento, but it seems only a matter of time before Trentino also surrenders.
Maersk abandons Gioia Tauro – The Danish leader in container shipping has decided to abandon the port of Gioia Tauro and transfer its Mediterranean hub to Egypt.
