Bettelli: “Orders have picked up again with the introduction of the bonuses, but excluding the cloud is a mistake”
‘As companies’ digital strategies are crucial to their competitiveness, software as a service must be included in the measure.’
‘The measure is simpler and is helping to boost investment decisions, confirming the idea that when the rules are clear, businesses get their projects off the ground. However, the real test will come in the third and fourth quarters of the year, once the backlog of plans that had been put on hold pending the legislation’s actual implementation has been cleared.”
Bruno Bettelli, president of Federmacchine, is in a prime position to assess the impact and scope of the measure, as he represents the trade associations of plant manufacturers – 5,000 companies generating 52 billion in revenue from goods that are largely covered by the new incentive scheme: including machine tools and packaging lines, tile-making frames and kilns, as well as plants for processing all kinds of materials. “The initial figures,” he explains, “are encouraging, and I must say that the orders that have been unlocked relate not only to machine tools but also to other production processes. However, this enthusiasm will only materialise in due course, bearing in mind that in recent months – as seen in the domestic order figures – many investment decisions have been postponed, precisely whilst awaiting the effective implementation of the new legislation.”
As was the case in the machine tools sector, the figures for Federmacchine’s expanded scope show that, whilst international orders held up – rising by almost two percentage points in the first half of the year – domestic orders fell by 9.2 per cent, a drop of more than ten percentage points in the April–June quarter.
The deadlock was broken on 12 June with the launch of the GSE booking platform, although the forms are still missing for those who have already completed their investment and need to finalise their application to the tax authorities. ‘In fact, some of our member companies have already completed the installation of the new systems and are waiting to be able to complete the process; the final hurdle is still to be cleared. I must say that the launch of the working group between the Mechanical Engineering Association and MIMIT is, from this point of view too, an important and substantive step towards addressing these issues in a rational and methodical manner. Bearing in mind the delays in implementing the measure compared to the Budget Law, we have, for example, repeatedly asked for the possibility of extending the legislation beyond the current deadline of September 2028, thereby restoring the timeframe originally envisaged. I am confident on this point, not least because, as this is a scheme funded by national resources, the European constraints we have seen in the past do not apply, or are in any case less stringent.”
Whilst the multi-year duration of the measure – long sought by businesses to enable them to plan their investment decisions – is welcomed, concerns remain regarding the exclusion of certain types of software from the incentive scheme.
