Will Draghi and Franco finally scrap Gualtieri’s methods to help businesses?
The Draghi government is studying a decree – to use the 32 billion of net debt authorized by Parliament – in favor of companies in crisis by emulating what has already been done by the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Austria and Denmark which have followed a regulatory framework allowed by EU Commission
It is learned that by the end of next week a decree law will finally see the light of day that should use the 32 billion of net debt authorized by Parliament in mid-January and pending rules that would provide for its use, due to the government crisis recently resolved.
It will be up to the Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco, to best spend a sum that will bring the deficit / GDP forecast for 2021 to around 9%, from the 7% forecast with the latest budget law.
It seems that between Palazzo Chigi and via XX Settembre a feverish work is underway by technicians to design tailor-made aid suits for companies that, already damaged by the containment measures suffered in the spring, have suffered the second blow from the end October.
The readers will forgive us if we already reveal the ending of the film to them. What is presented and will be hailed as the first formidable intervention of the Draghi government is a film that has been screening abroad since the beginning of November.
In fact, on 13 October the Commission approved thefourth amendment to the Temporary State AidFramework , allowing the respective national governments to grant subsidies from 75% to 90% of fixed costs not covered by revenues, always subject to the Commission's authorization ( substantially from the losses in the income statement) for companies that have suffered a decrease in turnover of more than 30% in a period chosen between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2021. The maximum aid limit per company was initially 3 million and it was then raised to 10 million by thefifth amendment to the Temporary Framework .
Immediately after the approval of the fourth amendment in October, while we were amusing ourselves with insignificant "refreshment" decrees, many other countries have arranged appropriate aid by exploiting this faculty granted by the Commission. The list is very long and can be consulted here . Holland , Germany , Poland , Slovenia , Austria , Denmark … many immediately started with the new type of aid approved by the Commission or by strengthening other types of aid already authorized.
Already on 31 January we described in great detail the major aid allowed by the Commission. We also told you about Germany's "ability" to justify aid in the face of "exceptional events" rather than "serious disruption of the economy". The difference is not trivial and consists in the substantial absence of limits on aid for each company. But the former Minister of Economy Roberto Gualtieri limited himself to adapting a pre-existing regional aid scheme to this new scheme. An insignificant billion more in aid payable by the Regions.
So get ready. They will present it to you as a new and beautiful film, but it will only be a second viewing. The "red carpet" was already held at least four months ago. We are the ones who are late.
Let's hope that this time Minister Franco manages to put something good on the plate.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/draghi-e-franco-rottameranno-finalmente-i-metodi-gualtieri-per-aiutare-le-imprese/ on Sun, 21 Feb 2021 19:09:29 +0000.