Our ports are in danger. The plan to sink Italy

The state that taxes the state. This is the paradox that theItaly due to the latest decisions, made known by the European Commission, in which Rome was asked to abolish the exemptions from the taxes enjoyed by the companies that manage i ports in our country.

The story starts from afar. There Dg Competition, the Directorate-General of the European Commission which is responsible for supervising compliance with the Community rules on competition and free market, raised the case of the management of Italian ports. In particular, the exemption to which companies are subject it must be considered to all intents and purposes state aid. Therefore an element in contrast with the principle of free market and competition, one of the pillars of the EU economic system.

At the end of 2018 an investigation was opened by the commission towards Italy. Since then the push and pull between Brussels and Rome it never ended. The governments that have taken turns leading our country have argued that the Asp, ie the Port System Authorities, are public bodies directly emanating from the With, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

As entities, Asps are not subject to the payment of IRES and other taxes. The reasoning put forward by Italy is very simple: it is not possible to tax public entities directly emanating from the state administration. It would be like taxing yourself.

Yet Europe has gone its own way. In a letter that the commission sent to the Italian government and published in the Gazzetta on January 10th, Brussels has asked Italy to comply. In a nutshell, for the commission the Asps give life to real commercial activities because, as written in the letter, “they entrust authorizations and concessions against the payment of a fee”.

The issue has arisen in the past few hours with a new warning from the EU executive: “The European Commission – reads a note reported by AgencyNova – asked Italy to abolish the exemptions from corporation tax enjoyed by Italian ports in order to align the national tax system with EU rules on state aid ”. According to Brussels, the fact that Italy has not yet complied with Community legislation on the matter prevents free competition in the port sector.

“The EU rules on competition – the Commissioner responsible for Competition remarked in the past few hours, Margrethe Vestager – recognize the importance of ports for economic growth and regional development and allow Member States to invest in this sector ”.

“At the same time, to protect competition – continued the representative of the EU government – the Commission must ensure that any profits generated by the economic activities of the port authorities are taxed in the same way as the profits of other companies. Today’s decision addressed to Italy, like those addressed to the Netherlands, Belgium and France, reiterates that granting unjustified exemptions from corporation tax to ports distorts the level playing field and harms fair competition. These exemptions must therefore be abolished ”.

Hands on Italian ports

Brussels does not want to hear reasons: the Asp must be taxed. This even if the Italian State considers them as entities of its own administration. From the seat of the EU government they specified that “the dialogue with Italy goes on”, in reality the European one is a aut aut: Rome by January 2022 must comply with the directives of the commission. Otherwise one will click infringement procedure.

If the government decided to apply the taxes that rained down from Brussels, then we would arrive at the paradox of a public body taxed by the state. Above all, the Asp would lose the monopolies on port management. Translated: our stopovers would be put on the market. And another slice of Italy maybe being sold off.

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