Confindustria appoints new president

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In March 2000, Italy's main employers' association, Confindustria, appointed a new president, Antonio D'Amato. This is the first time that an entrepreneur from the south of Italy, not supported by the major Italian companies, has become Confindustria president. Mr D'Amato defeated the current vice-president of Confindustria, Carlo Callieri.

On 9 March 2000, the executive board of Confindustria, Italy's main employers' association, which represents more than 107,000 companies with about 4.1 million employees, appointed a new president, Antonio D'Amato. Mr D'Amato won 96 votes on the executive board, compared with 58 for Carlo Callieri, the current vice-president of Confindustria, who was supported by the representatives of the major Italian industries. On 25 May 2000, Mr D'Amato will be officially named as president during Confindustria's annual meeting.

The way in which Confindustria's 26th president was elected, as well as his personal profile, represents an important novelty - if not a breakthrough - for the main Italian employers' association, in that Mr D'Amato is:

• the youngest leader of Italy's employers (he will turn 43 in June 2000);

• the first president from the South (he was born in Naples);

• the first president elected after a second round of voting, which divided employers; and

• the first candidate appointed without the support of the main Italian industrial groups.

Mr D'Amato, president of Confindustria's Young Employers' Group (Giovani industriali italiani) from 1986 to 1990, has always represented small and medium-sized Italian companies, which hitherto have not played a very important role in the management of the organisation. The second ballot and the defeat of Mr Callieri, a senior manager at Fiat and a man of great experience who was supported by the big industrial groups of the North, seem to give the election of Mr D'Amato great significance as a cultural and political breakthrough, both within Condindustria and as regards relations between Confindustria, the trade union organisations and the government.

The new president will present his programme and his staff at an executive board meeting in April 2000, but his approach is already very clear. Mr D'Amato seems determined to give greater importance to business interests in the concertation process, interests that according to him have not been taken into account by the government - for example, in the recent case of the issue of the end-of-service allowance (trattamento di fine rapporto, Tfr) (a part of workers' pay which is put aside and paid in a lump sum at the end of the employment relationship) (IT9906119N and IT9909346F) . His attitudes towards trade unions may also represent a novelty. Mr D'Amato believes that the unions have not yet accepted the changes necessary to meet the challenge of competitiveness and modernise the Italian industrial system. Even if Mr D'Amato's leadership is not characterised by political alignments, it might be characterised by a greater distance from the centre-left parties that are currently governing the country.

Giorgio Fossa, outgoing president of Confindustria, is not worried about the divisions within the organisation, stating that: "it has happened before that some groups were in favour of a person who has not been appointed president, but then relations have always been re-established."

Among those on the losing side in the contest was Giovanni Agnelli, honorary president of Fiat, who supported Mr Callieri, even if he declared himself satisfied because Mr D'Amato "won a sweeping majority". Carlo Gonfalonieri, a senior manager at Mediaset, a company owned by Silvio Berlusconi, head of the centre-right Polo delle Libertà political grouping that is at present in opposition, holds different views, having expressed his support for Mr D'Amato: "Confindustria must no longer be a mediating association but must be turned into an association able to represent employers' interests. Antonio D'Amato is the person who will foster this process". Mr Callieri will leave Confindustria and work exclusively for his company, and is said to be resentful because he is sure that his defeat was "the outcome of unclear behaviours".

Mr D'Amato declared himself enthusiastic about the "vitality" shown by the confederation during the recent debate: "an important and sharp debate is the best guarantee for a strong, passionate, and dynamic Confindustria, which leaves rooms for entrepreneurial actions."

In the political sphere, both the parliamentary majority and the opposition were satisfied with the outcome of the Confindustria contest. Massimo D'Alema, the Prime Minister, has stated his wish that the new president will be able to "keep concertation going", and considers the election "a recognition for the South". Silvio Berlusconi, one of the few major business figures who supported Mr D'Amato, considers the election "an important novelty because it underlines small enterprises' willingness to support one of their candidates and because D'Amato is a southern entrepreneur who expresses a lot of potential".

The trade unions, before expressing any comments, want to wait for the Mr D'Amato's first actions. Sergio Cofferati, secretary general of Cgil, expressed only his "congratulations for the newly appointed president" and said that his union will "judge Mr D'Amato once he presents his programme". Sergio D'Antoni, secretary general of Cisl, underlined the "discontinuity" of Mr D'Amato's appointment but wants to "wait before expressing any kind of judgement: let's see what he will do. It is rather risky to express a priori judgments."