NADEF, THE 10 CNEL PROPOSALS TO RELAUNCH THE ECONOMY
"Ten points to relaunch the economy. Among these, the reduction of the tax wedge; the reduction of tax and duty evasion, the acceleration of the activation of public investments already financed, in particular in infrastructure; a higher level of efficiency of the public administration; training, investment in innovation research for the business system ".
This is what emerges from the Document of Observations and Proposals of the CNEL, today in hearing before the Joint Commissions of the Senate Budget and the Chamber on the Update Note to the DPEF 2019.
"A medium-long term vision is needed to tackle the country's structural problems and ensure sustainable growth, debt reduction and social cohesion for the next three years. The CNEL reserves its right of further evaluations and insights when commenting on the Budget Law and combined measures," said President Tiziano Treu. "The work of third-parties and independent bodies such as CNEL, which constantly monitor the implementation phase of policies and their concretely measurable effects, can contribute to the relaunch. The country needs a strategic project that acts on the various structural nodes ", the document says.
"The Italian recession in the Union's third economy must be avoided at all costs. The CNEL also points out the unique opportunity of the round of contract renewals which in 2020 will involve over 9 million workers in the private sector and almost 4 million in the public sector. The contractual renewal should be addressed taking into account the effective salary emergency that the country has experienced in recent years. Within the organic framework defined in a multi-year perspective, the commendable confirmation of tools such as Industry 4.0, Women's Option, APE social and openings for discussion with the Social Partners on the green sector, law on representation, tax credit for digital training, guarantee for young people, accident prevention and safety at work, equal pay opportunities, would have the value of real multipliers "- underlines the CNEL - It is necessary to review the EU tax system and overcome the fiscal compact. The opportunity for contractual renewals for salary increases and to modernize the PA must not be missed. "
Tax compliance "must be urgently addressed within a pact that provides operators with new social and corporate services that drastically eliminate obligations. We need an exceptional institutional and organizational effort which provides a crisis team with all the operational tools necessary for the improvement of tax compliance ".
"At the centre of all efforts there must be the commitment to reduce tax and duty evasion. Furthermore, a new state-citizen cooperation pact is needed for the fulfilment of tax duties which must be accompanied by an effort aimed at a digital society, where public services are provided in a simple way through applications and platforms ", added the General Secretary Paolo Peluffo.
LIST OF 10 POINTS PROPOSED BY CNEL
For 2020, the CNEL, in this preliminary analysis phase, preliminary to the choices that will be fully made with the Budget Law, identifies below some essential strategic directions:
1. Need to intervene to support domestic demand for consumption by increasing the confidence climate of businesses and families.
2. Reduction of the tax wedge, starting from the one that affects the lowest wages. The increase in the purchasing power of workers and families appears, in the opinion of the production categories, to be a goal to be achieved in terms of supporting consumption, both through tax (wedge reduction) and salaries.
3. Neutralization of the VAT clause: the CNEL agrees that the small capacity of the margins of flexibility granted by the EU is used primarily to defuse the safeguard clauses.
4. The CNEL recommends prudence in relying on mechanisms that, presented as spending reviews, actually go to paralyze public administrations and their operational capacities, which are indicated by the EU Council Recommendation to Italy of 9 July as causes of incapacity to use financing for national and European investments.
5. The strategic factor of the present moment of public finance is to put at the centre of all efforts, all energies, all material and immaterial resources a qualitative leap in the reduction of tax and duty evasion. According to the analysis of the "Social Security Routes" Study and Research Centre recently presented together with the CNEL, in relation to the tax returns for 2017, only 30.673 million citizens out of 60.484 million inhabitants have submitted a positive tax return, from which we can deduce that 49.29% of the inhabitants is formally without income and is therefore dependent on third parties.
6. CNEL believes it is essential to accelerate the activation of already financed public investments (which act as a driving force compared to private ones) and the definition of a new investment plan for the energy transition, in the so-called green sectors.
7. The achievement of a greater level of efficiency of the public administration must be considered an unavoidable objective in the context of a wider recovery path of competitiveness of the country-system.
8. The National Council takes a positive view of the short notes on the revitalization of public education; in particular, it appreciates the effort for the recruitment of tenured teachers; recalls that the same 9 July 2019 EU Recommendation stigmatizes the low salaries of the teaching staff. Still on the subject of education, it is necessary to overcome the fixed number of places at Universities.
9. A new pact of cooperation between citizens and the state in the fulfilment of tax duties cannot fail to be accompanied by an effort aimed at a digital society, where public services are provided in a simple way through applications and platforms.
10. On the review of specific measures such as quota 100 and citizenship income, an assessment of the opportunity cost and impact in terms of resources released is required.