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After numerous delays due to disagreements among the parties in the governing parliamentary majority, in summer 1998 the Government finally defined the main features of Agensud, the agency for job creation in the South of Italy, which will take the place of the IRI state-owned holding company. Agensud's aim is to foster the growth of business initiatives at the local level.
The Italian economy has traditionally been characterised by the strong presence of publicly-owned enterprises. One of the main bodies through which state has intervened in the economy is the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale, IRI) a state-owned holding, set up in 1933. During its existence, IRI has extended its control over numerous enterprises in sectors such as steel, banking, food, chemicals and telecommunications.
The privatisation process, which in Italy has got underway mainly in the 1990s, has aroused political debate on the future of IRI. The Government, partly as a result of the agreement reached with the Communist Reconstruction Party (Partito di Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) during the political crisis of the autumn of 1997 (IT9711315F), has opted to transform IRI into an agency for employment promotion in southern Italy, known as Agensud.
In the summer of 1998, the Government defined a set of policy measures designed to foster employment growth. Among these measures are a proposed bill intended to combat clandestine work, and a proposed reform of the job-creation incentives system. Of particular concern is the development of southern Italy, given that the unemployment rate is especially high in that area. Consequently, great importance has been given to the creation of Agensud, which had already been scheduled in the autumn of 1997. Agensud is a joint-stock company controlled by the Interministerial Economic Planning Committee (Comitato Interministeriale per la Politica Economica, CIPE), which will be responsible for:
In summer 1998, the Government determined that, given its purpose, Agensud would not hire personnel directly, apart from a number of technical staff necessary for its day-to-day operations, and would be given a "lean" structure.
It thus appears that a solution has been found to the wrangling, not only between the government parties and the opposition but also, and especially, among the parties forming the parliamentary majority, which since the autumn of 1997 had constantly delayed the effective creation of Agensud.
A first controversy centred on the body that should control Agensud. Although there was agreement that measures to foster the development of the South should dispense with "welfarism" and concentrate on growth from "the bottom up", some parties gave priority to decentralisation and therefore argued that Agensud should work closely with local government. Others instead emphasised the importance of central-level coordination by the Ministry of Industry or by the CIPE, within which the Ministry of the Treasury performs a coordinating role.
The creation of Agensud was once again postponed to the autumn when, at the beginning of summer 1998, conflict broke out between the governing parties and the PRC. The latter had voiced its dissent with the project as a whole, mainly criticising the fact that, although Agensud was intended to promote employment, it could not directly hire personnel. Instead, in the view of the PRC, Agensud should take on workers in long-term unemployment, especially those employed in precarious forms of work like the "socially useful jobs" scheme.
The social partners expressed their concern over the conflicts within the government majority that had delayed the creation of Agensud. The Confindustria employers' confederation, in particular, stated that once again a Government had been negatively influenced by the PRC. Moreover, both Confindustria and the trade union confederations - Cgil, Cisl and Uil- strongly criticised the PRC's proposal that Agensud should take on workers, since this would be directly contrary to the intention to supersede "welfarism". Finally, the social partners argued that the creation of a new structure would not be enough to encourage the development of the South. However, the alternatives that they proposed were very different. Whereas the unions urged the more widespread use of "territorial pacts" and "area agreements" (IT9704203F), Confindustria gave priority to easing the tax burden on firms and increasing labour market flexibility.
In the past, state intervention to foster the development of southern Italy has not had positive results, despite the large amount of resources invested. This is because priority has been given to "exogenous" development through the location in the south of industrial installations like steelworks, and to the allocation of resources on a "welfarism" basis. As a result of these failures, attitudes have changed and have shifted towards an emphasis on "bottom-up" local development.
Since 1997, discussions between the government and the social partners have led to the introduction of numerous schemes designed to promote employment growth above all in the South, examples being the so-called borse di lavoro(traineeships in small and medium-sized enterprises reserved for young people aged between 21 and 32 who have been unemployed for more than 30 months, and financed by the state - IT9712142N), area agreements, and territorial pacts. It is within this framework that Agensud has been envisaged. However, it remains to be seen to what extent Agensud, once it has been set up, will be able to achieve its objectives. The most crucial issues seem to be the relationship between central government and local governments, and coordination of the numerous bodies working for the development of the South. (Marco Trentini, Ires Lombardia)