For now, few have noticed, but the decree is there. The implementation regulation of the "Voluntary national scheme for the assessment and communication of the environmental footprint of Italian products”. We read that the intention is to "promote the competitiveness of the production system in the context of the growing demand for products with a high environmental qualification on national and international markets". Companies will therefore be able to put the "Made Green in Italy" label.
The decree had been in preparation for three years and the new government will only have to make it operational. Support it more. It has received a good legacy to be able to place on world markets, goods made with zero impact materials and processes. We hope so, because Italy will be able to bring a valid example of circular economy around the world. The new Minister of the Environment Sergio Costa has said that he is committed to the virtuous aspects of our environmental cycle. This specific provision is a valid occasion to take him at his word. The companies will ask their Ministry for a license to use, for a period of three years. So speed is expected, first of all, even if there are many cards to spin. At the base there must be a certification issued by independent bodies, as is the case for quality and safety, but above all the selection of non-impactful materials and technologies. The spirit of the legislation, based on the principles of the green economy, is precisely that of remodulating the processing cycles right from the start.
There are thousands of Italian companies that have invested their own in the production chain, recognized more by the markets and consumers than by the State. The new decree, however, tells us that, although voluntary, the green stamp cannot be imposed only on entrepreneurs. Worse still if indistinct for turnover, organization, supplies. We think that the government will have to favor the environmental vocation in a transversal way by helping those who - at least up to now - have not aligned themselves. And certainly not by will. The companies that apply will produce a selection of competitors originally with advantages only for those who have the real possibility of being certified. Even environmental compliance regulations are not simple. They refer to the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) of the European Union with a series of characteristics that are difficult to bear without distinction by companies, even by geographical area. Let's think of the structural gap between North and South or the supply of ancillary goods purchased on free markets that are not very sensitive to environmental issues.
There are those who these days have also referred to qualitative benchmarks with respect to the PEF regulations. It is a non-secondary point to measure the will of companies and of the Italian system as a whole not to see the decree of a few days ago unapplied. The stamp has costs that are not always compatible with the size of the business. For this reason we will soon see if, in addition to the decree inherited from the center-left government, the current one will strengthen it with necessary economic measures and support, on the electoral thrust of Grillopensiero "with us only green economy".
