At the heart of the association’s work lies the very difficult situation for trade and tourism companies, as a result of the ongoing war in Eastern Europe in the wake of the years of crisis caused by the pandemic and the prospects for 2023.
The annual meeting of the Confessercenti Emilia Romagna took place at the Hotel I Portici in Bologna.
In addition to the chairmen and directors of the eleven district conferences, physically present, there were more than a hundred members of the association connected by videoconference.
At the speakers’ table were the President of Confesercenti, Dario Domenechini, the Director, Marco Bassi, the Regional Advisers for Budget, Paolo Calvano and for Trade, Tourism and Transport, Andrea Corsini. Online from Rome, the National President of the League, Patricia de Luiz, while the Deputy Secretary General of the Unioncamere, Guido Caselli, sent a written letter.
At the heart of the association’s work lies the very difficult situation for business and tourism, as a result of the ongoing war in Eastern Europe in the wake of the years of crisis caused by the pandemic and the prospects for 2023.
Confesercenti ER President Dario Domenichini focused first of all on the urgency of taking measures against high energy prices affecting businesses and households in his report: “To lower energy prices it is necessary to stop speculation. For this reason, we have asked, among other things, to reduce the value tax Additives applied to gas, electricity, water and primary commodities or even their abolition. Then the president explained how there are measures that need to be taken in the short and medium term: there is an immediate need for tax breaks, bills in installments and any useful measure to leave liquidity to companies. However, in the medium term, incentives for a green transition will be required, in line with European and national standards. However, Domenechini referred in this regard to the effective action of the Confessercenti “Innova Energia”, which includes more than four thousand companies, which made it possible to significantly reduce the impact of energy costs on member companies.
Other related issues, touched upon by Domenechini, were the decline in consumption, in which he called for interventions to relaunch it (such as, for example, the reduction of taxes on the salaries of the thirteenth month in view of Christmas), and labor policies, with requests from the Associazione dell ‘alleggerimento of the tax burden also on future contractual increases and a significant reduction in the tax wedge, the still insufficient reduction in the 2023 draft state budget of the new government.
“It is also necessary – he continued – to start a deep reflection among all the subjects involved, from federations, trade unions and institutions, to understand how to overcome the paradox where, on the one hand, companies cannot find employees and, on the other hand, there are many people who are able to It is therefore necessary to review the current system of social safety nets, placing training and reintegration into the world of work at the center of the debate on tools capable of making the search for employees more flexible.
Another hot topic in his report was unfair competition from large e-commerce platforms that are subject to practically non-existent taxes.
In terms of taxes, for Domenichini, a general reduction in corporate taxes, including local taxes, is needed.
On the subject of electronic payments, if development is to be really encouraged, according to Domenichini reimbursement commissions, banking costs must be reduced and penalties suspended for those who do not accept payments by debit or credit card, pending a regulation less affecting companies.
Another stressful element for companies are commercial rents, which could be overcome by reintroducing a dry coupon for landlords applying controlled rents, a rule that Confesercenti has been pushing for some time to reinstate it.
However, for Domenichini, cost reduction alone is not enough to protect a business: incentives and facilities for development, innovation and investments are needed, especially for digitalization and ecological transformation. It is important that, using the resources of the European funds PNRR, ERDF and ESF, spending chapters dedicated to neighborhood commerce, small and micro-enterprises in tourism and public enterprises, are projected through tenders calibrated according to their size and investment capacity. On this point, Dominicini acknowledges the good level of coordination with our region that is producing significant and improved results on the issue of first notices, even if the application methods for click days should be corrected.
One of the issues that is rarely talked about, but also leads to the closure of various commercial activities, is the lack of generational turnover, which is hampered by the bureaucratic and economic difficulties in taking on an activity, which can be overcome through the tax exemptions and simplification that he prefers. .
Then the president stressed the importance of governance of initiatives to support projects to enhance historical centers and commercial activities, hence the need to revise Law 41/97 to make it more appropriate for the era. The recent establishment of two new clusters, one dedicated to tourism and the other dedicated to urban economy, will bring ideas and resources to relaunch commerce.
Business support means, for Dominicini, greater quality and security in our historic centres; Promoting, for example, exhibitions and markets in public areas, an important economic sector that contributes to making urban centers lively but living in uncertainty about the future linked to the renewal of concessions, while they must be redeveloped and innovated. The President therefore hopes that, among the various expenditure items linked to European funds, the region will also include bids intended for them.
Finally, with regard to tourism, Domenechini stressed that although it is a sector recording positive indicators, it suffers from unfair competition due to OTA platforms present on the web and suffers from profitability and margin problems due to high costs, especially those related to energy and supplies, along with the difficulty of Finding staff, with an important impact on the reduction of services rendered and thus turnover. The development of tourism certainly depends on a series of actions and provisions that must be coordinated between the public and private sectors: “Our region – as Domenechini said in conclusion of his speech – invests a lot in this sector and, through APT Servizi and tourist destinations, develops important promotional measures. However, from It is good to continue working to improve the partnership between the public and private sectors at the local level and to identify the most appropriate measures for the sector.
Trade, Tourism and Transport Consultant Andrea Corsini reaffirmed the ER’s support for SMEs: “The vitality of businesses in our region is fundamental to the health of our economic and productive system. We are well aware of the importance of the network of commercial and tourism establishments, as well as SMEs operating in the service, handicraft and industrial sectors. For employment and well-being in our lands Sectors that have suffered greatly during the pandemic and to which the region has allocated significant resources through targeted refreshments The productive world is now facing new and painful challenges raised by the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis That is why today’s designation is an opportunity Important for discussion and participation.I would like to reiterate that even in this difficult situation, the region will continue to do its part together with the companies and associations that it represents, because only together we will be able to face this new chapter and search for effective solutions to grow further.”
For his part, Chancellor Calvano clarified the financial framework and guidelines on which the 2023 budget for the Emilia-Romagna region is based, which provides for an increase in revenues of around 6 million euros but sees particular importance in spending on health care and increasing energy. costs. “Nevertheless, the commitment to participate in the financing of European funds, amounting to 330 million over three years, will make it possible to finance measures of about 1.6 billion euros to support companies and local authorities,” said Calvano.
Confesercenti ER proposals:
- Immediate support to overcome the crisis period due to the increase in energy and supply costs;
- investment incentives aimed at technological development and environmental transition tailored to the characteristics of our sectors;
- reduce bureaucracy and formalities;
- reviewing regulations that favor unfair practices and unfair competition for our sectors;
- measures favoring generational rotation;
- discussion table on neighborhood trade issues and improvement of sectoral legislation;
Deep reflection on work issues adapted to the needs of companies and new lifestyles as well as an important intervention to reduce the cost of labor.
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