Draghi’s cleaning of the Italian country has its limitations

Soon after, Mimmo Parisi had to eat his words.

The head of the Italian Labor Policy Bureau is under investigation by auditors because his first-class round-trip cost from Rome to the United States where he legally lives is 160,000 euros. Earlier this month, he dismissed reports that he was about to lose his government job. “Domestic gossip.”

But the next day, the Italian Minister of Labor announced that a demographer and professor of statistics at Mississippi State University would lose his national job in Italy.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi tried to transform state-owned holding companies and other institutions before starting to invest 220 billion euros in EU funds and pass structural reforms. Paris is just the latest move. Analysts warn that if such reforms are not carried out, a lot of money is at risk of being wasted.

“The danger is at stake… is the future of the country,” said Maurizia Iachino, a corporate governance consultant. She added that Draghi’s job change was aimed at seeking more professional appointments, after he consulted “people he trusts, most of whom are related to his past experience as a civil servant.”

So far, in the first three months of his tenure, Draghi has served as Director of the Treasury Bureau and Governor of the Central Bank of Italy. He has taken over the positions of State Commissioner of Covid, Head of Civil Defense Agency and Director of the Italian Secret Service. That job First woman Leadership bureau.

A senior official said: “This is just a solution to the problem.”

In the widespread debate about national inefficiency and mismanagement, part of the Draghi government’s overall effort to depoliticize bureaucracy is the Draghi government’s efforts.

Other changes are expected soon. According to the survey, in the next few months, 74 board of directors of 90 listed companies will expire. Consulting company CoMar. Among them, 15 companies have a total revenue of more than 70 billion euros and are directly controlled by the Ministry of Finance.

Any changes are happening, which proves Draghi’s credibility as the former president of the European Central Bank. Nicola Pasini, a professor of political science at the Università Statale di Milano, said this freed him from the “autonomy” that usually accompanies such appointments.

He said: “He can focus on ability and professional quality, rather than political affiliation.”

This is the kind of change that Italy needs for a long time. Cleaning up the country’s administrative situation is part of Giuliao Amato, who led Italy’s privatization efforts in the early 1990s, and he recently said that the country needs to end the political “pollution” of companies.

“Public-backed companies eventually fall into the hands of political parties [and their demands] This changes their function,” Amato tells Italians daily Republic.

The state-owned investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the state-owned railway Ferrovie dello Stato will change as early as this month. This is first of all state-owned companies. These two companies will become the main beneficiaries of EU funds.

Iachino said that both companies are “critical to the EU’s recovery fund.”

For railway operators, this problem is particularly prominent, because the investigation of railway operators has thrown it into chaos. Insurance with it It came up with the contract. The group also participated in the failed rescue of Alitalia’s national airline, and its board of directors recently approved a series of generous performance bonuses, although the company recorded a net loss of 562 million euros in 2020, while also receiving Covid-related 1.1 billion. Euro subsidies.

However, according to analysts and investors, it will take more effort for Draghi to change some high-level appointments if Italy’s deep-rooted political and corporate dynamics are to change in a meaningful way.

“Draghi… was appointed for a very specific task [linked to Italy’s post-pandemic recovery]”, Passini said. “For lasting change, what needs to be changed is the bureaucracy and implementation process. ”

One limitation of the change is that although Draghi may appoint a new CEO, board-level appointments may still be politically influenced.

Iachino said: “Draghi will focus on the most important work.” “This means that the appointment of directors will be left to the usual parties… There are still huge symbols that can be paid to politics.”

Draghi’s tenure may also prove too short to change the country’s flawed institutions.

The leader of the right-wing coalition, Matteo Salvini, is a junior member of the coalition government and often a confrontational partner. He has already expressed doubts about the Draghi government’s ability to implement key structural reforms.

He recently said: “Let us be realistic, it will not be this alliance that will change justice or the fiscal system.” tell Republic.

In turn, this raises the question of how long Draghi may be prime minister.

Salvini has stated that his party is willing to support Draghi to succeed Sergio Mattarella as president in February next year. This position may be supported by other parties and will lead to a general election. .

But this also means that Draghi will no longer oversee the implementation of reforms, nor will he oversee the spending of the EU Recovery Fund for which he is prime minister.

Iachino said: “There is still a lot of work to be done to change the system, which is why many people hope that Draghi will not succeed Mattarella in February next year.”

She added: “But at the same time, we cannot deceive ourselves because he will continue to be Prime Minister for the next ten years.” “That will mean continuity-when will we see the continuity of this country?”