First district-level concertation agreement signed in Rome

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In November 1998, the first district-level "concertation agreement" between local authorities and trade unions was signed in Italy. The agreement, covering Rome's 5th district, lays down methods and objectives aimed at enhancing the area's productive development and the quality of life and of the urban environment. The agreement sets out the procedures, levels and contents of concertation and dialogue between the parties.

On 17 November 1999, the district council (consiglio circoscrizionale) of Rome's 5th district (V circoscrizione) and local organisations of the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade union confederations signed an agreement which constitutes a local "concertation pact" (patto di concertazione) for the development of this district. The deal was Italy's first such agreement at the level of a district - districts, or circoscrizioni, are political and administrative units of major Italian cities, run by an elected district council, from amongst whom a president and board (giunta circoscrizionale) are elected. A growing number of agreements aimed at promoting local development have been signed at territorial level in recent years (IT9704203F), while a national "social pact for development and employment" was signed in December 1998 (IT9901335F). The new agreement in Rome is also seen as an important example of an application of the guidelines on local development agreed at the Essen European Council meeting in 1994.

The 5th district is a densely populated area of Rome (about 200,000 inhabitants in 49 square kilometres), containing: many industrial sites (often experiencing difficulties at present); an internationally prestigious group of companies specialising in the production of electronic defence equipment; new commercial activities; and an economically important group of artisanal and/or micro-companies. Moreover, the 5th district hosts La Sapienza, one of Europe's biggest universities. In the near future, the 5th district will also see the implementation of important projects such as: the SDO (Sistema Direzionale Orientale), which should allow for decentralisation of Rome's administration and industry; the Polo Tecnologico, a technological centre linked to the electronics sector; a new fruit and vegetable wholesale market, known as the CAR; and the decentralisation of the university system.

The new local concertation pact commits the partners to working together in the following strategic areas:

• policies aimed at creating jobs and competitiveness;

• policies aimed at improving social and economic cohesion;

• policies aimed at fostering infrastructure and communication network development; and

• policies aimed at fostering durable development and quality of life.

Among these areas, the partners have identified a series of medium-term objectives, classified under four main headings.

1. Viability: implementation of important infrastructural projects for urban mobility; extension of the Rome underground railway to industrial areas; enhancement of the urban rail network.

2. Compatible development and employment: enhanced utilisation of local resources and creation of the conditions for well-balanced and environmentally-friendly economic growth; development of services to persons and enhanced exploitation of voluntary and non-profit activities; support for entrepreneurial initiatives and small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the artisanal sector; and development of environmental policies.

3. Training: development of "synergies" between universities, research centres and industry, for the development of high-level training activities; and preventing young people rom leaving the education system at an early stage.

4. Institutional aspects: speeding up the process of institutional reform through the creation of a Comune Urbano Metropolitano, a new organisation to promote citizens' participation and economic development; and use of concertation and dialogue as a permanent method for taking decisions within the district.

As for bargaining procedures and levels, the parties decided that relations between local institutions and trade union representatives will have three aspects - consultation, information and negotiation.

Under the pact, trade union organisations will receive consultation on the most relevant issues relating to local development, the main subjects being:

• the report drafted every year by the district council to define the choices at the basis of its actions;

• the budget;

• innovative projects in the area of services to persons;

• urban planning choices; and

• multiannual development programmes;

Consultation will involve: on the one side, the district council, its president, committees and organisations covering specific issues (consulte circoscrizionali); and on the other, the local Cgil, Cisl and Uil organisations. Consultation should take place during the preliminary stage - ie before decisions are taken. The unions will receive in good time the relevant documentation on the decision to be taken and will be able to take part in the meetings of the various district bodies. Unions may present their point of view through written documents or through comments that will be minuted. At the end of the consultation meeting, the actions or decision taken will be formalised.

Trade union organisations will receive information in advance about all the initiatives that the district bodies intend to take. The implementation of decisions that have been taken and of all decisions concerning the use of financial resources constitute priority subjects for information.

Negotiation is the last step of the concertation process. Negotiations on a particular issue must start within five days of a request from one of the parties, and must lead within seven days to an agreement, or common initiatives, or an explicit form of disagreement. The bargaining parties are the president of the district council and the territorial organisations of Cgil, Cisl and Uil.

In his comments on the agreement, Maurizio Pecatelli, the Cisl official responsible for Rome East, said that it "is an important social event that defines the conditions for carrying out a veritable concertation policy ... Local initiatives now seem to be the most suitable solution to unemployment and to the rigidity of the productive system, in order to promote a new phase of employment growth."