Executives and managers divided on government. What is Cida’s line?
Different opinions from the main trade associations on the Meloni government. The president of Federmanager, Cuzzilla, president of Trenitalia and on the board of directors of Cdp Venture Capital, has a non-negative attitude, while Mantovani of ManagerItalia spares no criticism.
Should you support the Meloni government or not? It is the Hamlet-like doubt of Italian managers, whose main trade associations, Federmanager, chaired by Stefano Cuzzilla and ManagerItalia, led by Mario Mantovani , both confederated in Cida , also chaired by Cuzzilla , (of which Mantovani is deputy) on the merits seem to have very distant ideas.
FEDERMANAGER AND CIDA (LED BY CUZZILLA) WANT DIALOGUE
“ Dialogue ” is the watchword of the president of Federmanager, Stefano Cuzzilla, a man who, as recently recalled by Start Magazine , does not have great sympathies for the right, so much so that he is even considered close to the Democratic Party ( and in the past to the Margherita , when he was vice president of the Lazio regional company, Astral ). In May 2021 Cuzzilla joined the FS board of directors during the Draghi government but it was with the Meloni government that he was elected president of Trenitalia, a public company 100% owned by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
There are numerous interventions in which Cuzzilla, also a board member of Cdp Venture Capital sgr since October as well as on the advisory board of Sole 24Ore Formazione , reiterates that dialogue with the government is necessary. Even as president of Cida, as this Ansa reported in October: “We ask this government to adopt strategic measures that do not take away other resources from those who have honestly paid taxes and contributions in an economy altered and polluted by tax evasion. We ask that, in restoring order to the system of tax deductions, the error of discriminating and further penalizing those who already support welfare in all possible ways is not perpetuated". This is what Stefano Cuzzilla, president of Cida, declared in his speech during the public meeting “We are all workers. Defend pensions and bring back equity."
CONTINUOUS WISHES FOR A LONG LIFE TO THE GOVERNMENT
This passage is especially important: “The Prime Minister declared a few days ago that he is looking at the horizon of 5 years of government to carry out the major reforms that this country urgently needs. Among these are tax and social security reform. We need this long-term horizon to achieve structural change and for this reason we make ourselves available to the government as a category", concluded Cuzzilla.
A dialogue, the one requested by Cuzzilla in his dual role as president Cida and Federmanager welcomed with relief by Palazzo Chigi in a period in which, the friendly fire of the majority and the blunders of some ministers were not enough, he has to deal with the general strikes connected to the maneuver. A dialogue that the executive does not want to interrupt, as demonstrated by the recent video message from the Prime Minister to the Federmanager assembly .
Even in the very last hours Cuzzilla returned to wishing the executive a long life in his report to the annual assembly of the association: "Faced with a country that is not growing, whose GDP this year is at zero point, we can hope at least to have a government that lasts and has the courage to make the necessary reforms. Warning: the loss of meaning generates a loss of consensus. And we must take sensible actions. We particularly cannot afford to take on more debt. Especially us, who have carried the burden for more than half a century."
MANAGERITALIA DOESN'T THINK SO
Mario Mantovani of ManagerItalia doesn't think so, as well as, as anticipated, Cuzzilla's number 2 at Cida. In an interview given to Repubblica (which presented him with great emphasis as president of Federmanager, wrongly, but that's another story…), the representative of the other large trade association spares no criticism of the executive.
Starting with the opinions on the measure: "An unrealistic and unfair budget law" because "it seeks resources where they should not be sought, so as not to risk compromising social cohesion, i.e. in welfare and social security". The one-year extension to the tax wedge cut is not going down well: “Tapping contributions means placing further hidden debt on future generations – he says. With the same resources, the tax on contract renewals could have been significantly reduced, which would have guaranteed support for workers but also stimulated growth".
THE DISENCHANTED VISION OF MANTOVANI
There doesn't seem to be any optimism even on the Pnrr front, where the executive has also received all the OKs (and cheques) from Brussels: "It could bring growth to structurally higher levels, but there are many accumulated delays", says Mantovani, but “an overall reorganization was desirable, even if one thing that was missing at the beginning, and it seems to me is still missing, is an effective mobilization of private investments”.
And then what seems like a jab at the executive's inability to influence the situation of beach resorts and taxi drivers: “We need to encourage competition – says Mantovani – leaving room for growth for the more structured companies, which have the ability to invest, attract talent and remunerate them, overcoming the idea that they all have to remain on the market". And while its president hopes that the government will benefit from a long life, the number 1 of Manageritalia seems to have a much more pragmatic vision aimed at making a living: "I believe that the attempt, with a very fragmented electorate, is to send messages of defense to the various categories – says Mantovani – rather than making a general discussion that combines protection and growth”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/dirigenti-e-manager-divisi-sul-governo-qual-e-la-linea-della-cida/ on Mon, 27 Nov 2023 10:07:48 +0000.