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PARALLEL TEXTS
Il cammino verso la crescita: per un'amministrazione pubblica più vicina alle imprese
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-866_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-866_it.htm
Data documento: 28-10-2013
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Antonio TAJANI
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Antonio TAJANI
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European Commission Vice President responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship
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Vicepresidente della Commissione europea, responsabile per l’Industria e l’Imprenditoria
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“The Path to Growth: For a Business Friendly Public Administration”
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Il cammino verso la crescita: per un'amministrazione pubblica più vicina alle imprese
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Opening speech / Brussels
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Discorso di aperture / Bruxelles
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President, [ Dailis Alfonsas BARAKAUSKAS ]
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President
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Ministers,
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Ministri,
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Ladies and gentlemen,
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Signore e signori,
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It is a great pleasure for me to speak to you today.
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E' un grande piacere per me parlare a voi oggi.
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This Conference addresses a crucial issue:
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Questa conferenza affronta una questione cruciale:
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the role of public administrations in helping European business and boosting economic growth.
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il ruolo delle amministrazioni pubbliche per aiutare le imprese europee e la crescita economica.
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To attract investment and re-industrialize Europe, a truly business friendly environment is essential.
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Per attirare gli investimenti e reindustrializzare l'Europa è davvero essenziale sviluppare un ottimo ambiente imprenditoriale.
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So Governments, at EU, national and regional level, must make sure public administrations are the number one ally of industry, providing an efficient high-quality public service.
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Di conseguenza i governi, a livello comunitario, nazionale e regionale, devono assicurarsi che le pubbliche amministrazioni siano l'alleato numero uno del settore, fornendo un servizio pubblico efficiente e di qualità.
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The legislative framework must also be simple and predictable to boost innovation and competitiveness.
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Per stimolare l'innovazione e la competitività, il quadro legislativo deve essere semplice e prevedibile.
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Since 2011, in its Country-Specific-Recommendations, the Commission has been asking Member States to improve their public administration.
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Fin dal 2011, nelle Raccomandazioni, la Commissione ha chiesto agli Stati membri di migliorare la propria amministrazione pubblica.
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However, the latest Competitiveness Report shows that government ineffectiveness is still one of the main obstacles for business.
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Tuttavia, l'ultimo rapporto sulla competitività mostra che l'inefficacia del governo è ancora uno dei principali ostacoli per le imprese.
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There have been improvements in some member States, but a number of countries have also fallen in the rankings.
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Ci sono stati miglioramenti in alcuni Stati membri, ma un certo numero di paesi ha perso punti nella classifica.
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Let me highlight some of the most important issues hampering businesses today.
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Vorrei sottolineare alcune delle questioni più importanti che ostacolano le aziende di oggi.
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I. Releasing the potential of our entrepreneurs
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I. Liberare il potenziale dei nostri imprenditori
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In Europe, in addition to big industry, we have 23 million entrepreneurs with small or medium-sized businesses.
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In Europa, oltre alla grande industria, abbiamo 23 milioni di piccoli e medi imprenditori.
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These are, above all else, men and women with a dream – a vital force focused on ideas, projects, hard work and risk, in order to innovate and generate added value, wealth and employment.
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Sono, prima di tutto, uomini e donne con un sogno da realizzare. E' energia vitale che si concentra su idee, progetti, tanto lavoro, rischio, per innovare, creare valore aggiunto, ricchezza, occupazione.
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They are the true lifeblood of the economy and society.
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Sono la vera linfa vitale dell'economia e della società.
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To discourage or even block this force is to cut off employment and growth.
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Scoraggiare o, addirittura, ostacolare questa energia, significa boicottare il lavoro e la crescita.
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This is why we need a genuine change of culture, so that public administrations see entrepreneurs not as subjects or adversaries, but as individuals who play a positive role that benefits society, even though their aim is to make profit.
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Per questo è necessaria una vera rivoluzione culturale, dove le amministrazioni pubbliche vedano l'imprenditore, non come suddito o avversario, ma come un attore positivo che, pur perseguendo il profitto, porta benefici alla società.
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In many EU countries, we are still a long way from achieving this vision.
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In molti paesi Ue, siamo ancora lontani da questa visione.
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Public officials often view entrepreneurs with suspicion, if not open hostility, regarding them as potential rule-breakers who take advantage of the common good and exploit the work of others.
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Spesso i funzionari tendono a guardare con sospetto, se non con aperta ostilità, l'imprenditore, identificandolo come colui che potenzialmente viola le regole, approfitta del bene comune, sfrutta il lavoro altrui.
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We must move beyond this view.
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Questa visione va superata.
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We have to rebuild the relationship between businesses and public administrations, starting from a seemingly self-evident observation:
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Bisogna ricostruire il rapporto imprese P.A. partendo da un'osservazione apparentemente lapalissiana:
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without entrepreneurs there can be no employment or wealth, and thus no resources for the State.
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senza imprenditori non c'é lavoro e ricchezza e, dunque, non vi sono neanche risorse per lo Stato.
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How much does the deadweight of inefficient public administration hinder the creation and growth of businesses and employment?
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Quando pesa il macigno di una P.A. inefficiente sulla nascita e lo sviluppo d'imprese e sull'occupazione?
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A lot, if we think, for example, of how long it takes to:
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Moltissimo, se pensiamo, ad esempio, ai tempi per:
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obtain a licence for the construction sector or for any type of economic activity;
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ottenere una licenza nel settore delle costruzioni o in una qualsiasi attività economica;
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start a business or receive a payment from the State;
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aprire un'impresa o ottenere un pagamento dallo Stato;
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recover a debt, enforce a contract or complete insolvency proceedings;
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recuperare un credito, far valere un contratto o concludere una procedura fallimentare;
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build infrastructure or put a contract out to tender.
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realizzare un'infrastruttura o lanciare un appalto.
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Not only does this time often translate into huge additional costs for businesses, but there are also direct costs:
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Oltre ai tempi, che si traducono spesso in enormi costi aggiuntivi per le imprese, vi sono i costi diretti:
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first, the anomalous tax burden on businesses and employment, often linked to a bloated public administration that spends public money badly;
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prima di tutto l'abnorme pressione fiscale su imprese e lavoro, spesso legata a un'amministrazione inutilmente elefantiaca che spende male il denaro pubblico;
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second, the innumerable bureaucratic procedures that represent an unsustainable burden, particularly for SMEs, not least in terms of personnel use.
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in secondo luogo, per gli innumerevoli passaggi burocratici, che rappresentano, specie per le PMI, oneri insostenibili anche in termini di personale impiegato.
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I have in mind here the vast number of essentially pointless and confusing procedures that are not justified by the protection of any general interest, but instead result from internal organisational problems, power struggles and bad legislation.
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Penso alla pletora di adempimenti sostanzialmente inutili e farraginosi, non giustificati dalla tutela di alcun interesse generale, ma legati piuttosto a problemi di organizzazione interna, logiche di potere e cattiva legislazione.
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Although environmental impact assessment and consumer protection are clearly sacrosanct, this is no excuse for an endless proliferation of bureaucratic procedures or bodies with veto powers, nor spiralling response times.
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Se è evidente che la valutazione dell'impatto ambientale o la tutela del consumatore sono valori sacrosanti, non per questo si devono moltiplicare all'infinito le amministrazioni con potere di veto, i passaggi burocratici e i tempi di risposta.
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If we want to return to growth of more than zero-point-something, become an attractive investment location and reduce public debt, the starting point for all reform is to make public administrations more efficient.
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Se vogliamo tornare a crescere oltre lo zero-virgola, a essere un luogo attrattivo per gli investimenti e ridurre il debito pubblico, la madre di tutte le riforme è proprio quella per migliorare l'efficienza delle pubbliche amministrazioni.
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II. Let’s start with start-ups
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II. Iniziamo con le start-up
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Anyone deciding to take the risk of starting their own business should receive all possible support.
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Chi decide di rischiare in proprio deve essere facilitato in tutti i modi.
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This is why in May 2011 the Competitiveness Council, at the Commission’s suggestion, set a target of three days and 100 euro to start a business.
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Per questo, su proposta della Commissione, il Consiglio Competitività di maggio 2011 ha indicato l'obiettivi di 3 giorni e 100 euro per aprire un'impresa.
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Although there has been some progress, unfortunately only three Member States meet these criteria.
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Malgrado alcuni progressi, purtroppo solo tre Stati membri soddisfano questi criteri.
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The EU average for starting a business is still six days – with some countries requiring as many as 14 days – and the average cost is 370 euro.
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La media Ue per avviare un'impresa è ancora di 6 giorni - con alcuni Stati dove ne servono addirittura 14 – e il costo medio di 370 euro.
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This is why, to improve the functioning of the single market, I intend to propose European legislation to oblige Member States to meet certain timescales and costs for business start-ups.
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Per questo intendo proporre, per migliorare funzionamento del mercato interno, una legislazione europea che imponga a tutti gli Stati tempi certi per avviare un'impresa.
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III. Too much taxation
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III. Eccesso di tassazione
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In many EU countries, the tax burden on companies has reached levels that are counterproductive for public finances.
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Il carico fiscale sulle imprese in molti Stati Ue ha raggiunto livelli controproducenti per le finanze pubbliche.
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Taxation above a certain threshold discourages entrepreneurial activity, which is why tax revenue falls even though taxes have been raised.
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Sopra una certa soglia di tassazione, difatti, si scoraggia l'attività imprenditoriale per cui, malgrado l'innalzamento delle imposte, il gettito diminuisce.
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It is not just the tax burden that is unsustainable: tax collection procedures are often unnecessarily complex.
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Oltre al carico fiscale, sono insostenibili anche le procedure di riscossione delle imposte, spesso inutilmente farraginose.
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Just consider that it can take up to 50 working days to complete an income declaration.
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Basti pensare che per dichiarare i redditi servono fino a 50 giorni lavorativi.
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There has been some improvement, especially with the introduction of online procedures that have cut the time required by 7 %.
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Qualche miglioramento vi è stato, soprattutto con l'introduzione di procedure telematiche che hanno ridotto i tempi del 7%.
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But there is still much that can and should be done in order to fully digitalise dealings between businesses and the State, including using EU structural funds.
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Ma molto si può e si deve ancora fare, puntando sulla totale informatizzazione del rapporto impresa Stato, anche attraverso i fondi strutturali Ue.
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IV. Snail-paced civil justice
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IV. Giustizia civile lumaca
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One of the biggest deterrents to investment is the glacial speed of civil justice in certain Member States.
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Tra i fattori che più penalizzano gli investimenti, vi sono i tempi biblici della giustizia civile in alcuni Stati.
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The EU Justice Scoreboard presented by the Commission on 27 March pulled no punches.
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Il rapporto sull'efficienza della giustizia presentata dalla Commissione il 27 marzo è impietosa.
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While settling contractual disputes in the EU takes on average 547 days and requires 32 different procedural documents, and insolvency proceedings take around two years, there are significant differences between countries.
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Se la media Ue per ricomporre obblighi contrattuali è di 547 giorni e 32 diversi atti procedurali e, di circa due anni per i fallimenti, vi sono grandi differenze tra paesi.
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In certain Member States, these figures are three or four times higher.
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In alcuni Stati, infatti, questi numeri vanno moltiplicati per 3 o 4.
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Italy, for example, comes bottom of the ranking for the time needed to resolve commercial cases and the number of pending cases, with a mediocre use of new information technology.
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L'Italia, ad esempio, è in fondo alla classifica per tempi di risoluzione delle cause commerciali e numero di quelle pendenti, con un livello di applicazione delle nuove tecnologie informatiche mediocre.
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It takes 564 days to complete the initial court case, rising to 1210 days when all levels of appeal are included, despite investment in the judicial system (0.2 % of GDP) similar to that of other EU countries.
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Servono 564 giorni per il primo grado, e 1210 per i tre gradi di giudizio, malgrado investimenti (0,2% del PIL) nel sistema giudiziario in linea con quelli di altri paesi europei.
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This has devastating consequences for citizens, businesses and economic growth.
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Le conseguenze sono devastanti per cittadini, imprese e crescita economica.
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Slow justice removes the certainty that contractual obligations will be enforced and the courts become the refuge of those in the wrong who wish to make the other party give up.
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La giustizia lenta fa venir meno la certezza degli obblighi contrattuali e i tribunali diventano il rifugio di chi ha torto e vuole far desistere la controparte.
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The cost of these inefficiencies equates to a drop in GDP of between 1 % (as indicated by the Bank of Italy) and 2 %.
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Il costo di queste inefficienze in termini di calo del PIL sono stimate dalla banca d'Italia fino al 2%.
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According to Confindustria, reducing these timescales by 10 % would result in a gain of almost 1 % of GDP, or 13-14 billion euro per year.
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Per Confindustria abbattendo del 10% i tempi si guadagnerebbe quasi un punto di PIL, ossia 13/14 miliardi l'anno.
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The European Commission, the OECD and the World Bank all agree that slow court cases are not attributable to the number of judicial officials per inhabitant or levels of investment, but rather to organisational problems and a lack of digitalisation.
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Commissione Ue, OCSE e Banca Mondiale concordano nel ritenere i processi lumaca non dipendenti dal numero di magistrati per abitante o investimenti, bensì da problemi organizzativi e scarsa informatizzazione.
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This is also the line taken in the Recommendations made by the Commission to various countries during the European Semester.
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Su questa linea insistono anche le Raccomandazione della Commissione nel Semestre europeo a vari paesi.
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V. A digital revolution in the relationship between the State and businesses
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V. Rivoluzione digitale nel rapporto Stato impresa
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Many Member States are not yet fully exploiting the vast potential of new information technologies to improve the relationship between public administrations and businesses.
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In molti Stati ancora non è sfruttato a sufficienza il grande potenziale delle tecnologie informatiche per migliorare i rapporti P.A.– imprese.
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Only half of EU countries have made e-government services available to businesses.
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Solo la metà dei paesi Ue ha servizi di e-government diffusi per le imprese.
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Recent estimates show that intelligent and large-scale use of these technologies would result in cost savings of up to 20 %, i.e. several hundred billion euro that could be used to lower taxes and/or reduce public debt.
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Stime recenti indicano che un'applicazione intelligente di queste tecnologie, penso in particolare agli appalti pubblici digitali e alla fatturazione elettronica, porterebbe a un risparmio fino al 20% dei costi, ossia di qualche centinaio di miliardi di minori tasse e/o abbattimento del debito.
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And that’s without taking into account the enormous economic benefits for businesses of shorter timescales and simplification.
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Senza contare il vantaggio economico per le imprese in termini di riduzione dei tempi e semplificazione.
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This is why digital services are at the heart of the Europe 2020 growth agenda, so much so that a European summit has just been held to accelerate the technological process that forms the basis for our future competitiveness.
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Per questo, la creazione di un vero mercato unico digitale è in cima all'agenda di Europa 2020, tanto che vi è appena stato un vertice europeo per accelerare questo processo tecnologico basilare per la nostra futura competitività.
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As the main providers of business services, public administrations must therefore modernise by investing in information technology, including by making better use of EU funding.
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Le P.A., quali principali fornitrici di servizi alle imprese, devono, dunque, modernizzarsi investendo nelle tecnologie informatiche, anche utilizzando meglio i fondi Ue.
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VI. Innovation and public procurement
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VI. Innovazione e appalti pubblici
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Public procurement accounts for 19 % of EU GDP.
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Gli appalti pubblici rappresentano il 19% del PIL Ue.
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It can therefore play a formidable role in encouraging firms to innovate and find new markets.
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Possono, quindi, dare un contributo formidabile per spingere le imprese a innovare e trovare mercati.
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Unfortunately, the latest Innovation Scoreboard revealed that less than 5 % of companies had sold innovative products to the public administration, far fewer than in the USA.
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Purtroppo dall'ultimo Public Sector Innovation Scoreboard risulta che meno del 5% delle aziende hanno venduto prodotti innovativi alla P.A., molto meno che negli USA.
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To encourage innovative procurement, we have set up public administration clusters that work together to draw up tender specifications for innovative products, partly using EU funds.
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Per stimolare gli acquisti innovativi abbiamo creato cluster di P.A. che lavorano insieme alla definizione di capitolati di appalto per prodotti innovativi, anche grazie a fondi Ue.
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To this end, we are co-financing a European online platform to offer companies, particularly SMEs, a guide to innovative public procurement.
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Su questa linea stiamo co-finanziando una piattaforma europea online per offrire alle imprese, soprattutto PMI, una guida sugli appalti pubblici innovativi.
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A first paper version of the guide will be distributed today.
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Una prima versione cartacea della guida sarà distribuita oggi.
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I would also like to take the opportunity today to launch the first European award for innovative procurement.
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In quest'ambito voglio oggi lanciare il primo Premio Europeo per il migliore appalto innovativo.
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I would encourage the representatives of public authorities that have recently launched an innovative procurement project to submit their nominations by March.
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Incoraggio i rappresentanti di autorità pubbliche che hanno recentemente lanciato un appalto innovativo, a inviare le candidature entro marzo.
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The award will be presented in May.
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Il premio sarà assegnato a maggio.
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VII.Quality legislation
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VII. Qualità della legislazione
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Above all else, reducing the burden on businesses means legislating less and legislating better.
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Ridurre gli oneri per le imprese significa, prima di tutto, legiferare meno e meglio.
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At all levels.
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A tutti i livelli.
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The Commission must lead by example.
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La Commissione deve dare l'esempio.
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This is why we have added a compulsory competitiveness test that applies to all new proposals for EU legislation.
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Per questo abbiamo inserito un test di competitività obbligatorio che riguarda tutte le nuove proposte legislative Ue.
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Before submitting a new directive or regulation to the legislature, we must ask ourselves whether it is really needed and what costs it imposes on businesses, particularly SMEs.
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Prima di sottoporre al legislatore una nuova direttiva o regolamento, dobbiamo chiederci se davvero serve e quali costi comporta per le imprese, in particolare le PMI.
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This analysis must also take into account cumulative effects.
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Quest'analisi va fatta anche sotto il profilo dell'effetto cumulato.
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We cannot burden sectors facing increasing global competition with a constant stream of new rules that, when taken together, result in unsustainable costs and subsequent relocation risks.
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Non possiamo appesantire settori sottoposti a una crescente concorrenza globale con continue nuove prescrizioni che, sommandosi, portano a costi insostenibili e relativi rischi di delocalizzazione.
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I have already initiated tests for cumulative effects in the steel and aluminium sectors, the results of which will be presented on 6 November.
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Ho già avviato test sull'effetto cumulativo nei settori dell'acciaio e dell'alluminio, i cui risultati saranno presentati il 6 novembre.
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New tests for the chemicals and ceramics sectors will start shortly.
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E' imminente l'avvio di nuovi test per chimica e ceramica.
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I would also like to thank President Barroso for the legislative simplification measures introduced on the basis of the excellent work of the Stoiber group.
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Vorrei anche ringraziare il Presidente Barroso per l'azione di semplificazione normativa in linea con l'eccellente lavoro del gruppo Stoiber.
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The REFIT programme, which follows on from our consultation on the 10 legislative acts that place the greatest burden on businesses, is a key initiative for reducing the impact of EU legislation on business competitiveness.
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Infatti, il programma REFIT, che segue la nostra consultazione sulle 10 legislazioni che pesano di più sulle imprese, è un'iniziativa decisiva per ridurre l'impatto della legislazione Ue sulla competitività delle imprese.
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Ever since the Small Business Act (SBA) came into force in 2008, the Commission has been working to reduce administrative burdens.
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Già dall'entrata in vigore dello Small Business Act (SBA) nel 2008 la Commissione lavora alla riduzione degli oneri amministrativi.
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The cost to businesses of complying with EU legislation is calculated to be around 124 billion euro.
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Si è calcolato che il costo degli adempimenti per le imprese legati alla legislazione Ue è di circa 124 miliardi di euro.
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We have achieved the objective set out in the SBA of reducing this burden by 25 %, with an estimated saving – particularly for SMEs – of 30.8 billion euro But we want to go further.
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Abbiamo realizzato l'obiettivo indicato dallo SBA di ridurre del 25% tali oneri, con un risparmio – soprattutto per le PMI – stimato in 30.8 miliardi. Ma vogliamo andare oltre.
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This is why we have already proposed simplification measures affecting 33 % of this burden, for total annual savings of over 41 billion euro.
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Per questo abbiamo già proposto semplificazioni che toccano il 33% di detti oneri, per arrivare a un risparmio finale di oltre 41 miliardi annui.
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For example, simply exempting micro businesses from accounting obligations under EU directives has so far generated annual savings of 6.5 billion euro.
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Ad esempio, la sola esenzione per le micro imprese dagli obblighi contabili delle direttive Ue ha finora prodotto un risparmio annuo di 6.5 miliardi.
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Electronic invoicing, the simplification of tax credit reimbursements, the ‘one-stop’ system for administrative procedures and fewer online-sales rules are worth as much as 26 billion euro.
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La fatturazione elettronica, la semplificazione dei rimborsi del credito d'imposta, lo sportello unico per gli adempimenti amministrativi, meno regole sulla vendita online, valgono ben 26 miliardi.
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Looking beyond the efforts being made at European level, in all fairness it should be recognised that many restrictions are the result of poorly implemented directives or national and regional rules.
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Al di là degli sforzi Ue, va onestamente riconosciuto che molti vincoli derivano da una cattiva attuazione delle direttive o da norme nazionali e regionali.
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So the habit of making Brussels the scapegoat for all blame is not helpful.
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Per questo la logica del capro espiatorio brussellese a cui rinviare tutte le responsabilità, non aiuta.
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In Italy alone, complying with administrative obligations costs businesses more than 26 billion euro.
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Solo per l'Italia, il costo per le imprese degli adempimenti amministrativi supera i 27 miliardi.
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Eliminating half of this would result in potential additional growth of 1 %.
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Eliminandone la metà si avrebbe una crescita potenziale dell'1% in più.
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The initiatives introduced by some Member States, including Sweden, the United Kingdom and Italy, to implement robust measures to simplify the legal framework for businesses are therefore to be commended.
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Sono dunque, apprezzabili, le iniziative di alcuni Stati, tra cui Svezia, Inghilterra, Slovenia, Irlanda, Finlandia e la stessa Italia, che hanno avviato azioni per semplificare il quadro normativo per le imprese.
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I hope that all EU Member States will make similar efforts.
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E' auspicabile che ogni Stato Ue compia sforzi analoghi.
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Conclusions
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CONCLUSIONI
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Despite some weak signs of recovery, the EU has not yet seen off the crisis.
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Malgrado qualche timido segnale di ripresa, l'Ue non è ancora riuscita a lasciarsi alle spalle la crisi.
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The industrial base continues to shrink, from 15.5 % last year to 15.1% today.
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La base industriale continua a erodersi. Dal 15.5% di PIL dello scorso anno siamo al 15,1%.
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The employment situation is dire, with half of all young people unable to find work in Greece, Portugal, Spain and southern Italy.
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Sul fronte del lavoro la situazione è drammatica, con un giovane su due che non trova lavoro in Grecia, Portogallo, Spagna o meridione d'Italia.
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A far stronger recovery is needed to reverse this trend.
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Per invertire questo trend serve una forte ripresa molto più robusta.
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Despite the strong action taken by the Commission to relaunch competitiveness and the reforms by the Member States, there are still deep structural imbalances.
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Nonostante la forte azione della Commissione per rilanciare la competitività e le riforme degli Stati membri, vi sono ancora profondi squilibri strutturali.
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114 |
The productivity gap remains wide, with countries hampered by punitive taxation, limited capacity for innovation, high energy costs and inadequate infrastructure.
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Il divario di produttività rimane ampio, con paesi gravati da fiscalità punitiva, limitata capacità d'innovazione, alti costi dell'energia, inadeguatezza del sistema infrastrutturale.
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115 |
However, it is precisely the different levels of efficiency in public administration and civil judicial systems that have the greatest impact.
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Tra questi, a pesare i più sono proprio i diversi livelli di efficienza della P.A.e della giustizia civile.
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116 |
We look forward to the meeting of the European Council in February, when industrial policy will once again be discussed at the highest level after many years.
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Abbiamo davanti a noi l'appuntamento del Consiglio europeo di febbraio, dove si tornerà a discutere, dopo molti anni al più alto livello, di politica industriale.
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117 |
This is why we are working on an Industrial Compact, in the context of Europe 2020, which will allow us to increase the pace of reform at both EU and national level. This is essential if we want to attract fresh investment in industry.
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Per questo stiamo lavorando a un Patto per l'Industria che, nel quadro di Europa 2020, consenta di accelerare il processo di riforme - sia a livello Ue che nazionale - indispensabile per attirare nuovi investimenti industriali.
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118 |
I have already started discussions with the 28 EU Ministers for Industry, stressing both the priority actions and the need to strengthen governance.
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Ho già avviato una riflessione con i 28 Ministri europei dell'industria, sottolineando sia le azioni prioritarie, che il necessario rafforzamento della governance.
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119 |
The first problem to be addressed is that of turning public administrations into true allies of business.
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Il primo nodo da sciogliere è proprio quello della trasformazione delle P.A. in vere alleate delle imprese.
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120 |
Without efficient administration, we are destined to fail in our efforts to build a system of modern networks, reduce energy costs, spend EU funding more wisely and produce research and training more geared to the market.
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Senza amministrazioni efficienti gli sforzi per costruire un sistema di reti moderne, ridurre i costi dell'energia, spendere meglio i fondi Ue e avere una ricerca e una formazione più orientate al mercato, sono destinati a fallire.
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121 |
The results achieved by the Late Payment Directive, which sparked a real revolution in many Member States by freeing many businesses from their subjugation to the public sector, show us that the EU can play an even more important role in the context of a more integrated and efficient single market.
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I risultati ottenuti con la direttiva sui ritardi di pagamento, che in molti Stati ha avviato una vera rivoluzione, liberando molte imprese da un rapporto di sudditanza con il funzionario pubblico, ci fa capire che l'Ue può svolgere un ruolo ancora più incisivo, in un mercato interno più integrato ed efficiente.
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122 |
This is why I am considering a new Small Business Act that contains not just recommendations, but legally binding requirements.
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Per questo penso a un nuovo Small Business Act che contenga non solo raccomandazioni, ma veri vincoli legali.
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123 |
These would include fixed timescales and resources for starting a business, obtaining a licence or recovering a debt.
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Come, appunto, tempi e risorse certi per avviare un'impresa, ottenere una licenza o recuperare un credito.
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124 |
Finally, I have in mind EU legislation that would give a second chance to honest entrepreneurs who have gone bankrupt and would simplify the transfer of companies.
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Penso, infine, a una legislazione Ue che permetta una seconda possibilità a imprenditori onesti che sono falliti e, semplifichi il trasferimento di aziende.
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125 |
In conclusion, I want to leave you with a message of hope.
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In conclusione, Vorrei dare un messaggio di ottimismo.
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126 |
Europe boasts extraordinary potential, above all in human capital and entrepreneurship.
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L'Europa ha un potenziale straordinario, prima di tutto in termini di capitale umano e capacità imprenditoriale.
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127 |
If we can provide this potential with even more space and freedom by eliminating the problems restricting competitiveness, starting with overly intrusive and inefficient public administrations, we will overcome the crisis and return to growth and job creation. |
Se sapremo lasciare ancora più spazio e libertà a questo potenziale, sciogliendo i nodi che limitano la competitività, a cominciare dalle P.A. troppo intrusive e inefficienti, usciremo dalla crisi e torneremo a crescere e creare lavoro. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Antonio TAJANI
European Commission Vice President responsible for Industry and
Entrepreneurship
"The Path to Growth: For a Business Friendly Public Administration"
Opening speech / Brussels
President, [ Dailis Alfonsas BARAKAUSKAS ]
Ministers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to speak to you today.
This Conference addresses a crucial issue:
the role of public administrations in helping European business and boosting
economic growth.
To attract investment and re-industrialize Europe, a truly business friendly
environment is essential.
So Governments, at EU, national and regional level, must make sure public
administrations are the number one ally of industry, providing an efficient
high-quality public service.
The legislative framework must also be simple and predictable to boost
innovation and competitiveness.
Since 2011, in its Country-Specific-Recommendations, the Commission has been
asking Member States to improve their public administration.
However, the latest Competitiveness Report shows that government
ineffectiveness is still one of the main obstacles for business.
There have been improvements in some member States, but a number of countries
have also fallen in the rankings.
Let me highlight some of the most important issues hampering businesses
today.
I. Releasing the potential of our entrepreneurs
In Europe, in addition to big industry, we have 23 million entrepreneurs with
small or medium-sized businesses.
These are, above all else, men and women with a dream – a vital force focused
on ideas, projects, hard work and risk, in order to innovate and generate added
value, wealth and employment.
They are the true lifeblood of the economy and society.
To discourage or even block this force is to cut off employment and growth.
This is why we need a genuine change of culture, so that public
administrations see entrepreneurs not as subjects or adversaries, but as
individuals who play a positive role that benefits society, even though their
aim is to make profit.
In many EU countries, we are still a long way from achieving this vision.
Public officials often view entrepreneurs with suspicion, if not open
hostility, regarding them as potential rule-breakers who take advantage of the
common good and exploit the work of others.
We must move beyond this view.
We have to rebuild the relationship between businesses and public
administrations, starting from a seemingly self-evident observation:
without entrepreneurs there can be no employment or wealth, and thus no
resources for the State.
How much does the deadweight of inefficient public administration hinder the
creation and growth of businesses and employment?
A lot, if we think, for example, of how long it takes to:
obtain a licence for the construction sector or for any type of economic
activity;
start a business or receive a payment from the State;
recover a debt, enforce a contract or complete insolvency proceedings;
build infrastructure or put a contract out to tender.
Not only does this time often translate into huge additional costs for
businesses, but there are also direct costs:
first, the anomalous tax burden on businesses and employment, often linked to
a bloated public administration that spends public money badly;
second, the innumerable bureaucratic procedures that represent an
unsustainable burden, particularly for SMEs, not least in terms of personnel
use.
I have in mind here the vast number of essentially pointless and confusing
procedures that are not justified by the protection of any general interest, but
instead result from internal organisational problems, power struggles and bad
legislation.
Although environmental impact assessment and consumer protection are clearly
sacrosanct, this is no excuse for an endless proliferation of bureaucratic
procedures or bodies with veto powers, nor spiralling response times.
If we want to return to growth of more than zero-point-something, become an
attractive investment location and reduce public debt, the starting point for
all reform is to make public administrations more efficient.
II. Let’s start with start-ups
Anyone deciding to take the risk of starting their own business should
receive all possible support.
This is why in May 2011 the Competitiveness Council, at the Commission’s
suggestion, set a target of three days and 100 euro to start a business.
Although there has been some progress, unfortunately only three Member States
meet these criteria.
The EU average for starting a business is still six days – with some
countries requiring as many as 14 days – and the average cost is 370 euro.
This is why, to improve the functioning of the single market, I intend to
propose European legislation to oblige Member States to meet certain timescales
and costs for business start-ups.
III. Too much taxation
In many EU countries, the tax burden on companies has reached levels that are
counterproductive for public finances.
Taxation above a certain threshold discourages entrepreneurial activity,
which is why tax revenue falls even though taxes have been raised.
It is not just the tax burden that is unsustainable: tax collection
procedures are often unnecessarily complex.
Just consider that it can take up to 50 working days to complete an income
declaration.
There has been some improvement, especially with the introduction of online
procedures that have cut the time required by 7 %.
But there is still much that can and should be done in order to fully
digitalise dealings between businesses and the State, including using EU
structural funds.
IV. Snail-paced civil justice
One of the biggest deterrents to investment is the glacial speed of civil
justice in certain Member States.
The EU Justice Scoreboard presented by the Commission on 27 March pulled no
punches.
While settling contractual disputes in the EU takes on average 547 days and
requires 32 different procedural documents, and insolvency proceedings take
around two years, there are significant differences between countries.
In certain Member States, these figures are three or four times higher.
Italy, for example, comes bottom of the ranking for the time needed to
resolve commercial cases and the number of pending cases, with a mediocre use of
new information technology.
It takes 564 days to complete the initial court case, rising to 1210 days
when all levels of appeal are included, despite investment in the judicial
system (0.2 % of GDP) similar to that of other EU countries.
This has devastating consequences for citizens, businesses and economic
growth.
Slow justice removes the certainty that contractual obligations will be
enforced and the courts become the refuge of those in the wrong who wish to make
the other party give up.
The cost of these inefficiencies equates to a drop in GDP of between 1 % (as
indicated by the Bank of Italy) and 2 %.
According to Confindustria, reducing these timescales by 10 % would result in
a gain of almost 1 % of GDP, or 13-14 billion euro per year.
The European Commission, the OECD and the World Bank all agree that slow
court cases are not attributable to the number of judicial officials per
inhabitant or levels of investment, but rather to organisational problems and a
lack of digitalisation.
This is also the line taken in the Recommendations made by the Commission to
various countries during the European Semester.
V. A digital revolution in the relationship between the State and businesses
Many Member States are not yet fully exploiting the vast potential of new
information technologies to improve the relationship between public
administrations and businesses.
Only half of EU countries have made e-government services available to
businesses.
Recent estimates show that intelligent and large-scale use of these
technologies would result in cost savings of up to 20 %, i.e. several hundred
billion euro that could be used to lower taxes and/or reduce public debt.
And that’s without taking into account the enormous economic benefits for
businesses of shorter timescales and simplification.
This is why digital services are at the heart of the Europe 2020 growth
agenda, so much so that a European summit has just been held to accelerate the
technological process that forms the basis for our future competitiveness.
As the main providers of business services, public administrations must
therefore modernise by investing in information technology, including by making
better use of EU funding.
VI. Innovation and public procurement
Public procurement accounts for 19 % of EU GDP.
It can therefore play a formidable role in encouraging firms to innovate and
find new markets.
Unfortunately, the latest Innovation Scoreboard revealed that less than 5 %
of companies had sold innovative products to the public administration, far
fewer than in the USA.
To encourage innovative procurement, we have set up public administration
clusters that work together to draw up tender specifications for innovative
products, partly using EU funds.
To this end, we are co-financing a European online platform to offer
companies, particularly SMEs, a guide to innovative public procurement.
A first paper version of the guide will be distributed today.
I would also like to take the opportunity today to launch the first European
award for innovative procurement.
I would encourage the representatives of public authorities that have
recently launched an innovative procurement project to submit their nominations
by March.
The award will be presented in May.
VII.Quality legislation
Above all else, reducing the burden on businesses means legislating less and
legislating better.
At all levels.
The Commission must lead by example.
This is why we have added a compulsory competitiveness test that applies to
all new proposals for EU legislation.
Before submitting a new directive or regulation to the legislature, we must
ask ourselves whether it is really needed and what costs it imposes on
businesses, particularly SMEs.
This analysis must also take into account cumulative effects.
We cannot burden sectors facing increasing global competition with a constant
stream of new rules that, when taken together, result in unsustainable costs and
subsequent relocation risks.
I have already initiated tests for cumulative effects in the steel and
aluminium sectors, the results of which will be presented on 6 November.
New tests for the chemicals and ceramics sectors will start shortly.
I would also like to thank President Barroso for the legislative
simplification measures introduced on the basis of the excellent work of the
Stoiber group.
The REFIT programme, which follows on from our consultation on the 10
legislative acts that place the greatest burden on businesses, is a key
initiative for reducing the impact of EU legislation on business
competitiveness.
Ever since the Small Business Act (SBA) came into force in 2008, the
Commission has been working to reduce administrative burdens.
The cost to businesses of complying with EU legislation is calculated to be
around 124 billion euro.
We have achieved the objective set out in the SBA of reducing this burden by
25 %, with an estimated saving – particularly for SMEs – of 30.8 billion euro
But we want to go further.
This is why we have already proposed simplification measures affecting 33 %
of this burden, for total annual savings of over 41 billion euro.
For example, simply exempting micro businesses from accounting obligations
under EU directives has so far generated annual savings of 6.5 billion euro.
Electronic invoicing, the simplification of tax credit reimbursements, the
‘one-stop’ system for administrative procedures and fewer online-sales rules are
worth as much as 26 billion euro.
Looking beyond the efforts being made at European level, in all fairness it
should be recognised that many restrictions are the result of poorly implemented
directives or national and regional rules.
So the habit of making Brussels the scapegoat for all blame is not helpful.
In Italy alone, complying with administrative obligations costs businesses
more than 26 billion euro.
Eliminating half of this would result in potential additional growth of 1 %.
The initiatives introduced by some Member States, including Sweden, the
United Kingdom and Italy, to implement robust measures to simplify the legal
framework for businesses are therefore to be commended.
I hope that all EU Member States will make similar efforts.
Conclusions
Despite some weak signs of recovery, the EU has not yet seen off the crisis.
The industrial base continues to shrink, from 15.5 % last year to 15.1%
today.
The employment situation is dire, with half of all young people unable to
find work in Greece, Portugal, Spain and southern Italy.
A far stronger recovery is needed to reverse this trend.
Despite the strong action taken by the Commission to relaunch competitiveness
and the reforms by the Member States, there are still deep structural
imbalances.
The productivity gap remains wide, with countries hampered by punitive
taxation, limited capacity for innovation, high energy costs and inadequate
infrastructure.
However, it is precisely the different levels of efficiency in public
administration and civil judicial systems that have the greatest impact.
We look forward to the meeting of the European Council in February, when
industrial policy will once again be discussed at the highest level after many
years.
This is why we are working on an Industrial Compact, in the context of Europe
2020, which will allow us to increase the pace of reform at both EU and national
level. This is essential if we want to attract fresh investment in industry.
I have already started discussions with the 28 EU Ministers for Industry,
stressing both the priority actions and the need to strengthen governance.
The first problem to be addressed is that of turning public administrations
into true allies of business.
Without efficient administration, we are destined to fail in our efforts to
build a system of modern networks, reduce energy costs, spend EU funding more
wisely and produce research and training more geared to the market.
The results achieved by the Late Payment Directive, which sparked a real
revolution in many Member States by freeing many businesses from their
subjugation to the public sector, show us that the EU can play an even more
important role in the context of a more integrated and efficient single market.
This is why I am considering a new Small Business Act that contains not just
recommendations, but legally binding requirements.
These would include fixed timescales and resources for starting a business,
obtaining a licence or recovering a debt.
Finally, I have in mind EU legislation that would give a second chance to
honest entrepreneurs who have gone bankrupt and would simplify the transfer of
companies.
In conclusion, I want to leave you with a message of hope.
Europe boasts extraordinary potential, above all in human capital and
entrepreneurship.
If we can provide this potential with even more space and freedom by
eliminating the problems restricting competitiveness, starting with overly
intrusive and inefficient public administrations, we will overcome the crisis
and return to growth and job creation.
|