The tones were calm. There were no bitter controversies.Between the president of Confindustria Bonomi and Prime Minister Conte we really tried to find a way that would allow us to build a credible and reliable project to face together the challenge of transforming Italy into a modern country, in step with the other Western countries.
The annual meeting of Confindustria, this year moved forward with respect to the traditional May appointment due to Covid, saw an attempt at dialogue with the Government to manage, with the active participation of social forces, a project capable of using the funds that Europe has made available to us to start a real development path capable of lasting over time.
In some passages of his speech, President Conte even seemed to bypass the president of the industrialists, stating that he was well aware that investmentsalone, they cannot ensure the breakthrough that the country needs. They must be accompanied by a review of the general legislation so as to make the legal environment more business-friendly, on one justice reform not only civil, but also criminal, from a profound change of Public Administration.
Of course, Prime Minister Conte has by now developed a transformative ability that allows him to adapt perfectly to the surrounding environment, avoiding the bumps and points of divergence, to adhere, almost with the same words, to the reconstruction pact proposed by the president of Confindustria. In fact, in his speech Bonomi stated several times that without the restoration of full trust between citizens and intermediate associations and the Government and the Public Administration, everyone's energies will not be mobilized, and it will not be possible to row towards shared objectives based on a clear vision of the kind of company we want to become.
Obviously accent differences remain both on the analysis of the past, especially of what Conte Uno did, and on some measures recently adopted or on current attitudes with respect to very important matches. In particular Bonomi has had critical accents on the desire for nationalisations that winds its way through many government officials, on excess subsidies that have been handed out in the past months, on the policy for the South where an expensive general cut in social security contributions has been chosen (incentives that have never had effect), instead of betting everything on infrastructure and legality, including that concerning the relationship with the PA.
Naturally Bonomi said clearly that giving up the money from the MES would be a crime. On the issues of industrial relations, Bonomi criticized the freeze on layoffs and above all strongly claimed the direct responsibility of the social partners in this matter, so much so that he pronounced himself against setting a minimum wage by law and has bitterly argued with a part of the union (the CGIL, even without naming it) who prefer to argue rather than find concrete solutions capable of contributing to the overall effort that the entire country must make to recover lost productivity. We are accused - Bonomi said - of not wanting to make contracts, when just two days ago we closed the private health contract which had not been renewed for 14 years. The truth, says Bonomi, is that there is someone who does not want to make contracts according to the rules which two years ago were established in a framework agreement between the parties. And certainly, as long as there is a Minister of Labor who fully supports the theses of the CGIL which has become an extremist again, Landini will find it more convenient to obtain from the Government what he could not obtain from the industrialists.
It is a good thing that the most heated oppositions have been set aside. Underneath, however, there are some even strong distances on how to approach the choices for the restart of Italy. But it is important that we make attempts to understand each other. And, at least in words, Conte seems to be aware of Italy's ills. In fact, he also stated that ad hoc rules will be needed to manage the Recovery Fund projects, i.e. an office responsible for the projects and implementation times. In short, they are doing small steps in the right direction. But there are so many things to do. And there is little time to do them and therefore it will take great cohesion and great determination.
