V Seminar Dinner - FMG incontra il Ministro Guido Crosetto

SUD E FUTURI II – Rome, December 2020

10 thematic sessions, over 40 speakers, an analysis of the most critical issues aimed at starting over: #economy, #resources, #future, #development, #legality, #emergencies, #rights, #democracy. With these keywords, the second edition of SUDeFUTURI took place between one lockdown and another, calling for a strong, strategic, fresh start. #UNLOCK_IT, indeed.

The Magna Grecia Foundation, by organizing the II Annual Meeting, looked to a real future, made up of people, synergies, and meetings. The programme developed is a path towards a shared horizon: out with the old, in with the new.

#UNLOCK_IT is much more than a hashtag: it's a direction we can all head for together. With the desire to contribute to finding the right way to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. To blaze a new trail.

After ten thematic sessions, exclusive interviews, contributions from Italy and abroad, SUDeFUTURI#UNLOCK_IT, the II Annual meeting of the Magna Grecia Foundation, the 9 to 11 December live stream AdnKronos Palazzo dell'Informazione, in Piazza Mastai in Rome, came to an end.

"Let’s take stock of the current situation at the end of an event full of ideas and interventions," said writer, journalist and strategist Paola Bottero, "and understand how and where to start over as a Foundation" Professor of Criminal Law and director of the course of study in Law at Luiss University, Antonino Gullo and the former president of Banca di Sassari and Confartigianato Imprese, Ivano Spallanzani joined us online while journalist and essayist Paolo Mieli and the president of the Foundation, Nino Foti, were in attendance. At the end of the three-day event the latter went over the two proposals put forward by the Magna Grecia Foundation to relaunch Italy: putting together a panel of experts to streamline Italian bureaucracy and enhance its human capital and the creation of the Ministry for the Future.

Mieli: A legitimized Parliament is better than a state of perpetual emergency

A discussion, moderated by journalist and director of SUDeFUTURI magazine, Alessandro Russo, which immediately got to the core issue with the intervention of Mieli, who does not seem worried about a possible return to the polls. "Despite being led by an excellent Prime Minister, we are paying a very high price for an emergency government made up of ministers chosen in a rush, which was not even indirectly indicated by the electorate. There is a risk that the right will prevail, but even though I am a center-left voter, I like to live in a country where even my political party does not requisition the right to govern by improper means. Having a legitimized parliament is better than living in a state of perpetual emergency as we are currently witnessing." Although, he stressed, "this is not the time to point fingers, as we are waiting for the end of the war." Certainly, "a positive note came from these three days, in which concrete things and a different spirit came out". Ideas that could spark a rebirth, he remarked, because "creating a system is not a slogan, we need to release the handbrake and innovate the country."

Certainly, the way forward is the one proposed by President Nino Foti (Magna Grecia Foundation), which is to free ourselves from the 'handbrake' and look further ahead towards innovation, to remove from digitization or green economy the flavour of slogans that 'cover nothing'. If I could give a suggestion from what I have heard in recent days, it would be to adopt, as a rule of thumb, the creation of an actual system that works. But we cannot simply rely on the majority to ask the opposition or all the detractors of the government to 'create a system', that is, 'stop criticising what we are doing'. 'Creating a system' is first and foremost an attitude of those who call the shots. Those in charge must be content to listen to criticism and to grasp it and at some point, change." Only in this way, Mieli explained, "creating a system becomes something outstanding. Instead, something that must be remarked vigorously, is that despite the daily exhortations of the Head of State to work in unity, nowadays creating a system has merely become an individual pursuit. “To conclude, the best thing we could have now is a quick start on a real 'system', sweeping aside what sets us back. I'm afraid that the reform of the public administration at the moment is too ambitious, but if it can be done, so be it."

Romano: We went back to the First Republic without telling each other.

The former minister and vice-president of the Foundation remarked that "We have quietly returned to the so-called First Republic, when governments were made in Parliament, which is both legitimate and normal since the Constitution has never been amended. What worries me the most is that this might come off as a polarization of the country while the opposite is done in Parliament. Also for this reason, despite the pandemic, I would be in favour of going to the polls, because Italians have not put to rest their minds and discerning powers. However, I believe that we are very far from a vote, not only because of internal dynamics within the institutions, but also because there are many members of parliament – who are the ones who should pursue a motion of no confidence – who already know that they will not return to the Chamber or the Senate." The former minister is troubled because he fears that “our apparatus, especially the one of the South, is not ready to put to good use the crucial resources that will contribute to major public works otherwise impossible to carry out”. The reason, he pointed out, is that "we have long since given up on qualifying and training our bureaucracy. In the South there have been no public competitions in many years, there has been no turnover in the public administration, where digital illiteracy is a major issue, making for second-class bureaucracy. The central state maintains a commendable line but it is not enough, because far too accentuated decentralization dynamics have been implemented but the bureaucracy of the Regions is not up to the task, unable to cope with this new phase and intercept resources to be allocated to companies". Therefore, Romano stressed that "this government, instead of arguing over seats of power, must commit itself to making a reform, or if it is not possible, at least a procedure that allows these funds coming from Europe to be spent effectively, also involving those on the ground who can really turn this expenditure into an investment, starting with the world of small and medium-sized enterprises."

Spallanzani: small and medium-sized enterprises are key to a successful relaunch

The former president of Banca di Sassari and Confartigianato Imprese, Ivano Spallanzani, recalled how craftsmanship was one of the keys to the economic revival in the post-World War II phase. "Companies with fewer than 15 employees have also been exempted from the obligations in the Workers' Statute. Everyone understood that was the backbone of the country." For Spallanzani, "we need to create the conditions, as in the first post-war period, for the sector to be reborn. At that time, the Artigiancassa was established, the law on apprenticeship came into force and the Craftsmen's Mutual Fund was approved; a whole series of concessions that led the sector to have a great employment function". Looking to the immediate future, the benefits for craftsmanship could also be a solution for Spallanzani because "when the layoffs are unchecked, where will all the working people go? They will continue to be laid off, they will be unemployed or they will turn to illegal labour. I believe that subsidizing these people in order for them to become self-employed artisans is important, but this will only be possible without the bureaucracy hampering the country." And according to him, the current legislation that small entrepreneurs and artisans have to comply with is like "a 2-kilo steak for a 5-year-old".

Gullo: Striking a balance between rights and restrictions

For Antonino Gullo, professor of criminal law and director of the Law course at Luiss University, in such a delicate moment "it is necessary to find a correct balance between restrictions on the fundamental people’s rights and the protection of equally important rights. This is a case in which public health does not appear as something evanescent but touches on central goods for individuals." For Gullo, however, the current phase can also be "an opportunity to relaunch the country system and this touches some of the nerve centers of our legal system. This phase has called into question our idea of 'being part' of a national community, but also components of a European horizon that must be as cohesive as possible in dealing with the emergency. From a legal standpoint, the possibility of a relaunch calls for a review of the relationship between justice and the economy, in other words a decisive and strong continuation of works of renewal of our justice system that our country has actually started in recent years". The first front for the lecturer is the efficiency of the judicial system, "because it is a fundamental element for economic development. For example, just think of how phenomena such as corruption can be disruptive to the free market. Since 2012, our country has been able to involve companies in prevention, aware that this has a direct impact on economic development". Therefore, progress has been made, but more remains to be done on "access to jurisdiction, efficiency that spells reduced justice timing and quality that evokes the stability of decisions". Looking ahead, he added, there are three key words: organization, professionalization and digitalization. "Organization," he explains, "means continuing and disseminating best practice, making sure that there is uniformity with respect to the timing of justice in the different parts of the country. Professionalization means specialized judges and prosecutors. We could also think about influencing the training path: we must open up to highly professionalized itineraries, our students must be trained to be immediately operational in the world of work". As for digitalization, "it can be a valuable tool for use in the judicial field. These are challenges that should be taken on right now."

Foti: recipes to make the country break through

In his closing remarks, the president of the Magna Grecia Foundation, Nino Foti, put forward two concrete proposals: "Firstly, in order to make our country break through, rather than a reform of the public administration which is something complicated in the complex system in which we find ourselves, we need a special commission that can allow the country to de-bureaucratize. Our proposal is that it should not be a committee of legislators, but of legal experts, who can remove what is an obstacle to the system, together with a major investment in human capital in all segments of our society, investments in scientific research, energy and infrastructure, as well as in culture, which must also pave the way for concrete projects. In Italy, first you create structure then you look for people. But first and foremost, the people in charge of managing the investments have to be chosen." The second proposal is "a 'Ministry for the Future', which currently only exists in Sweden, which with the right people can try to lend a hand to our country." An idea that immediately welcomed Mieli's approval, who relaunched "to make sense such ministry should be based in a small town in the south of the country".

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