4 Ottobre 2012
The Italian government on Thursday reduced the financing of political groups and appointees at regional level as well as the number of regional counselors, increased financial controls and introduced a sanctions for regions that do not respect the rules.
The decree law adopted by the government reinforces the powers of the Italy’s Court of Auditors to inspect regions’ finances, including regular checks of political counselors’ expenditure claims and to impose sanctions if the rules and limits are not respected. The Court will in particular ensure that the regions respect national and EU budgetary stability rules.
With a view to reduce and control spending, local political groups must attest and publish revenues and expenditures. Moreover, Presidents of Regions, Presidents of regional councils and counselors must publish on the region’s website their revenues and personal wealth.
It is forbidden to cumulate remunerations or compensations. No payment will be due for sitting in regular commissions and compensation for attendance of others shall not exceed €30 a day. The remuneration of individual counselors and of political groups will be reduced to a ceiling that will be defined by 30 October.
To be entitled to a pension regional presidents and counselors will need to have exerted functions for a minimum of 10 years, be at least 66 years of age.
The cut in the number of regional counselors, as foreseen in law 148 of 2011, must also become effective within six months of the entry into force of the present decree.
Regions that do not follow the new rules may see their financing reduced by 80%, excluding local health and transport funding.
Under a 2001 Constitutional reform, local authorities were given the competence to run local health, transport and industry-related services the result of which was that regional spending increased by 74.6% to €208.4 billion in 2010, the last year for which there is aggregate data. However, the transfer of competences was not matched by an adequate level of controls, leading to a situation that is both opaque and economically unsound as it led to the indebtedness of the 20 regions, in some cases unsustainable.
The decree law foresees that those provinces and communes – which are subdivisions of regions - which are excessively indebted must agree a plan to achieve a balance budget within a period of five years. Those public managers responsible of gross mismanagement will have to pay a fine of between 5 to 20 times their salary and will be ineligible for the same kind of functions during a period of 10 years.
This decree law if the first step of a drive to reign in political spending and improper use of taxpayers’ funds. It will be followed by a reassessment of the competences between and central and local levels to avoid duplication, promote a more efficient allocation of resources and respect of spending limits.
