How to strengthen the effectiveness of control on business activities

The seminar “How to strengthen the effectiveness of controls on business activities” was held this morning in Rome, at Palazzo Vidoni, promoted by the Department of Public Administration for the presentation of the project “Reform of controls in Italy at national and regional level”, financed by the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument and developed by DG REFORM of the European Commission in cooperation with the OECD. The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss about the legislative enabling act to take action in the sector, inspired by European and international best practices.

 
After the opening of the works by the Minister for Public Administration, Renato Brunetta, Mario Nava, Director-General at DG REFORM of the European Commission, Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Marcella Panucci, Head of Cabinet of the Minister for Public Administration, Nikolai Malyshev, OECD Head Regulatory Policy Division, Maria De Benedetto, Full Professor of Administrative Law at Roma Tre University, Campbell Gemmell, Expert in environmental regulation and former Director of the Environmental Protection Authority of South Australia ( 2012-2014) and Scotland (2003-2012), Themis Eftychidou, Secretary General of Industry of the Greek Ministry of Development, and Florentin Blanc, OECD Senior Policy Analyst, Regulatory Policy Division.

Renato Brunetta, Minister for Public Administration, said: “This workshop highlights the excellent partnership between Italy and the OECD, especially in the last few weeks before the Ministerial Council Meeting, which Italy will return to chair on 9-10 June, after twelve years. Controls on business activities are one of the unresolved issues of Italian regulation, which leads into unnecessary duplication, stiffness of line administrations, overlapping of skills and structures: ultimately, it leads to a harassment for our companies, a serious barrier to competition and reduced attractiveness of Italy as a destination for international investments. The draft law on competition approved by the Government and now being examined by Parliament contains a legislative mandate to take action on current regulations, as required by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. We are already working on the implementing decrees: routine controls must be made more effective, in compliance with the criteria of efficiency and risk proportionality. Our aim is to ensure good bureaucracy for good business”.

Mario Nava, Director-General of DG REFORM, European Commission, said: “In order to improve their competitiveness and to attract investment, Italian companies need a clear, proportionate and consistent system of controls. With this project financed through the Technical Support Instrument, the European Commission, upon request of the Department of Public Administration, helps the public administration reduce red tape and create a favourable business climate, with positive effects for workers. The Technical Support Instrument stands alongside the Member States in implementing their reforms and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans”.

Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, said: “The work on simplifying administrative procedures, making citizens’ and businesses’ lives easier and administrations more agile, is central for the Italian government and the foundation of the project that brings us together today. The joint efforts of the Italian government and the DG Reform with the technical support of the OECD on reforming inspections in Italy will promote inspection systems that minimize burden and obstacles to growth, enable innovation, support good businesses and enables economic recovery and resilience”.