Decisive day for the spending review. There are three new targets in the sights: health, state and provinces. A government summit is scheduled at Palazzo Chigi to take stock of the extent of the cuts to be included in the next decree. The latest rumors speak of a provision of 7-8 billion, but the Executive is at a crossroads: the intervention could reach up to 10 billion, or be reduced to 5-6 billion, with a second tranche postponed to the autumn.
The Premier and the Treasury are pushing for the first hypothesis, but the resistance of the ministries to the linear cuts suggests the division into two packages. Tomorrow the government will meet the trade unions and social partners. After these appointments, which promise sparks, the text will arrive shortly before the Council of Ministers for approval.
The public spending cut plan should make it possible to postpone the VAT increase scheduled for October to 2013 and to reduce its size. If it works, next year the 10% and 21% rates could rise by just one point instead of two. Other objectives are the financing of exempt workers and aid to earthquake areas, in addition to mandatory expenses such as international missions.
Let's see in detail what are the main chapters of the next decree.
HEALTH
The plan of the extraordinary commissioner Enrico Bondi for the rationalization of the purchases of goods and services provides for a cut on health care of 1-2 billion. Cuts that will focus mainly on pharmaceutical spending. To these measures will be added the package of the Minister of Health, Renato Balduzzi, with the reduction of expenses for the specialist agreement and for other contracts.
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
What frightens the unions on this front is not so much the possible intervention on meal vouchers (reduced to 7 euros) and thirteenth month bonuses (to be postponed to January), as much as the hypothesis of a sharp reduction in the workforce. In all, around 10 thousand workers would be involved in 2012 and another 80-90 thousand by 2014: 20% for managers, 10% of second-level employees and 5% of those who hold other roles.
Non-replaceable redundant state workers could be made redundant for two years, with 80% of their salary. Sixty-year-olds will perhaps be allowed to retire with the old rules, derogating from the Fornero reform.
PROVINCES AND PUBLIC COMPANIES
Having archived the age-old question on the abolition of the Provinces, the Executive had already planned to reduce them. The administrations in question, after having digested the halving, however, had asked that the Government also put its hand to the myriad of companies and entities controlled by Regions and Municipalities (over 3 thousand, according to some estimates).
Together with the ceiling of three people for the Boards of unlisted public companies (including Spas such as Poste and Fs), there will therefore also be a significant reduction of the entities controlled by local autonomies, which would cost around 7 billion a year.
