New president of Confindustria unveils ambitious programme

In May 2008, Emma Marcegaglia took over as President of the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria). The new president outlined the policies that she intends to adopt over the next four years, stating that, despite the current economic crisis in Italy, there is ‘a unique opportunity to relaunch the country’. She highlighted the need for institutional reform, flexicurity, more women and young people in the labour market, and a reform of collective bargaining.

On 22 May 2008, during the annual assembly of the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell’Industria Italiana, Confindustria), Emma Marcegaglia was officially elected head of the largest employer organisation in Italy (IT0804029I). In her inaugural speech, she outlined the strategies and objectives of the organisation for the four years of her presidency.

Ms Marcegaglia addressed the entire government, a number of important national personalities, the trade unions and employers. Above all, she emphasised the importance of a great alliance between political parties, employers and trade unions in order to ‘relaunch the country’, given that ‘in Italy there is a climate that favours change’, despite the current economic crisis and lack of economic growth.

Principal issues covered in speech

Institutional and policy reform

According to Ms Marcegaglia, institutional reforms are necessary which will give greater power to the prime minister, together with a new electoral reform in order to reduce the proliferation of political parties. The role of the two parliamentary chambers must also be changed to overcome the ‘perfect bicameralism’ set out in the Italian Constitution. Under this system, the two parliamentary chambers have identical functions. Thus, if a law approved by one chamber is modified by the other, the law in its new form must return to the original chamber for approval. In order to lower costs, the number of members of parliament and figures from other elected bodies should be reduced.

Moreover, the Italian public administration must be reformed. The state should become ‘light, rigorous and efficient’, removing all of the bureaucracy which impedes the economic activities of enterprises. In addition, it is necessary to carry out policy reforms which lessen fiscal pressure and which decentralise the question of taxation to regional level – in other words, fiscal federalism. Thus, it will be possible for citizens to control the use of resources directly.

In the opinion of the new Confindustria president, investment is required in the fields of energy and the environment. More specifically, a greater number of more modern and ecological forms of incinerators (termovalorizzatori) need to be opened and nuclear energy should be developed. Therefore, future Italian energy policy cannot ‘unilaterally adopt the Kyoto Protocol’. Furthermore, this new policy approach to energy should not be blocked or boycotted by small social movements.

Labour market reform

According to Ms Marcegaglia, it is important to adopt the ‘flexicurity’ model, which combines employment flexibility and security, in order to make the labour market more equal and efficient, by guaranteeing an income and the necessary training between jobs. The pension system must also be reformed. In fact, the retirement age should be adjusted according to average life expectancy.

In order to relaunch the economy, a greater number of women and young people need to enter the labour market and the south of Italy should be revitalised. Female employment levels, currently at 47%, must be brought into line with European levels: in 2006, the proportion for the EU27 stood at 57.3%, and the Lisbon Strategy set a target of 60% of women in employment by 2010. At the same time, the entry of young people into the labour market should be encouraged through policies which promote and award merit. To this aim, the Italian education system should be reformed because, in the opinion of Confindustria, it does little to develop people’s talents.

Meanwhile, Italy’s banking system should favour the financing of productive activities and investment, and concentrate less on simple financial speculation.

For their part, enterprises must focus attention on improved health and safety at work, investment in research and training, and a campaign to encourage legal compliance and combat the proliferation of undeclared work.

In the view of Ms Marcegaglia, the trade union organisations should start negotiations to reform the system of collective bargaining in ‘the interests of the workers’.

Reactions to speech

Ms Marcegaglia’s speech was well received by most of the trade union groups and employer organisations.

The General Secretary of the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil), Guglielmo Epifani, considered that the new president’s speech was ‘ambitious and respected the role of the trade unions’. However, he believed that it underestimated the problem of workers’ salary levels and the price of consumer goods.

General Secretary of the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, Cisl), Raffaele Bonanni, believed the speech to be of particular importance because it contained many useful pointers and common objectives.

The General Secretary of the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil), Luigi Angeletti, concurred with Ms Marcegaglia’s comments on interventions regarding relations with the trade unions. He welcomed the development of a collective bargaining system which might generate less conflict between companies and trade unions.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi – intervening during the Confindustria assembly – stated that the government programme was similar to that of Ms Marcegaglia and that this convergence could be important for the modernisation of the country.

Commentary

The new Confindustria president has adopted a pragmatic approach, moving away from the ideologies and government subordination which have characterised previous mandates. However, it will not be easy for Ms Marcegaglia to pursue and maintain this approach in the future, particularly as some members of the new centre-right coalition government favour considerable deregulation of labour legislation.

Vilma Rinolfi and Domenico Paparella, Cesos