Rome, 27 October 2016
The new infrastructures contained in the Madia law on public administration and in the reform of title V of the Constitution, combined with the effects of the new FS Italiane Group Industrial Plan 2017-2026, could have a considerable impact on the Italian economy, increasing value added by between 0.67% and 1.39% in 10 years, as well as GDP by between 0.48% and 0.72%.
This is the result of The European House – Ambrosetti study, presented today in Rome, which evaluated the impact of the four main reforms launched by the Government on the transport and infrastructure sector.
The event was attended by the Minister for Public Administration, Marianna Madia, the CEO of FS Italiane, Renato Mazzoncini, and the CEO of THE-A, Valerio De Molli.
The study does not take into account the repercussions on the LPT and public mobility division, where the Madia package, the Title V Reform and the objectives of the FS Industrial Plan can create a virtuous circle that is not quantified by the study both in terms of the economic side and the quality of services, which is a key factor for the appeal of Italian metropolitan areas.
Alongside the Madia law, which contains numerous administrative simplifications and a new services conference, as well as the title V reform, which transfers control of infrastructures from regions to the State, the Ambrosetti study also analysed the Jobs Act and the banking reforms.
The first new features involve the Services Conference, with a reduction of times to 125 days, the application of tacit approval for protection agencies and the assessment of environmental impact, the possibility of closing it in the event of disapproval by protection agencies, delegating the final decision to the council of ministers and the possibility of summoning it in a simplified way, without actual meetings and just by sending documents online.
The reform of title V, granting the State control over infrastructures, resolves the conflicts linked to existing legislation and, with the abolition of equal bicameralism, gets rid of the need to continuously refer a law between the two houses until the two sides approve the same text. Extra help comes from the new procurement code which had already simplified the approval procedure for major infrastructure works.
The final effect is to eliminate any legislative and regulatory uncertainty, with a reduction of legislation approval times and administrative bureaucracy, thereby increasing the ability to attract foreign investment.
All this was then analysed in light of the new FS Industrial Plan for the next decade: 94 billion worth of investment, including 23 billion in self-financing, to transform the Group into an integrated player in passenger and freight mobility.
The new plan is based on five pillars: integrated mobility, integrated logistics including the creation of the new Mercitalia hub, integrated infrastructures thanks, for example, to the future acquisition of ANAS, internationalisation and lastly digitisation as an enabling factor of the entire Plan.