The business sector. Meloni backed by businesses but with costly promises. The leverage of the ‘fair wage’ agreement

They showered her with praise and punctuated her speech at the Assolombarda assembly with prolonged applause. And so Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni returned from Milan with a new realisation: in the long run-up to the elections, industrialists are on her side. Or at the very least: they are much closer to the government’s positions than they are to the broad coalition. Partly for this reason – and mindful of the constant calls from President Orsini for a review of instruments such as the ETS, as well as to honour the promises made over recent months – the Prime Minister has centred her entire narrative on the European Union and the need for it to reform itself from within. This will also feature prominently in the speech Meloni is due to deliver today in Parliament ahead of the European Council meeting on 15 and 16 October.

In early September, on the sidelines of the usual Ambrosetti Forum event, a series of polls began to circulate suggesting that around 70 per cent of Italian businesses considered themselves ‘satisfied’ with the government’s performance. This figure is in line with previous years. Meanwhile, the figure reflecting a lack of trust in the opposition is on the rise (over 83 per cent). These findings are by no means exhaustive, given that they relate only to the businesses participating in the Forum. Yet they certainly point to a rather evident sentiment within the business community. This is despite various attempts by the left – for example, by the PD’s secretary, Elly Schlein – to try to bring her party closer to Confindustria, through regular dialogue and relations described as ‘very good’ with President Orsini. However, as we know, trust—particularly in politics—is short-lived. And so now the government, as it prepares to tackle the Budget session, will need to be able to deliver on the series of promises made to the business community over the past few months. Which ones? Above all, the extension of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to the north, which has suffered some delays but which the Prime Minister hopes to see through, at least in terms of incentives and concessions. However, one of the business community’s requests is also to streamline the jumble of incentives – a task initiated by the Minister for Enterprise and ‘Made in Italy’, Adolfo Urso, but which has since come under scrutiny by the State Audit Office. As for ‘Transizione 5.0’, six billion has been set aside in funding until the end of 2028. However, given the sheer volume of requests, it was Urso himself who had promised an upward revision of the allocations. It is by no means certain that this will be achieved, however, given the scarcity of resources. Nor is it certain that the government will be able to keep pace with demands such as that for a ‘PNRR 2.0’, as put forward yesterday by Director-General Maurizio Tarquini. Then there is the issue of a possible tax on windfall profits, viewed as a diabolical idea by those in Viale dell’Astronomia, with Meloni forced to mediate between the two opposing sides: Salvini (who would like to introduce it) and Tajani (who is ontologically opposed to it).

While on the one hand there is a desire to appease a constituency that is, in its own way, also an electoral one, on the other hand the unknown factor is to what extent the business sector might be of assistance to the majority on other issues currently under discussion. When it came to drawing up a list of the associations campaigning in favour of a ‘yes’ vote in the constitutional referendum on the justice system, Meloni was deeply disappointed by Confindustria’s lack of commitment (as well as that of associations much closer to the right, such as Coldiretti). At this stage, however, the hope is that the employers’ association will manage to give the green light to the agreement on wages and representation that it is seeking to conclude with the CGIL, CISL and UIL. A meeting took place with the CISL just last week. An agreement is considered (even within the centre-right) to be essential for giving substance to the labour reforms and the ‘fair wage’ measures approved by the government last spring. Not least because it would focus on combating ‘pirate contracts’, an issue close to the hearts of both industrialists and the Triplice. But on the right, the situation is also viewed in a more prosaic light: ‘It would allow us to use that model, which emphasises a fair wage, to counter the “minimum wage” slogan that the broader political spectrum is already ready to ride on once more’.