Pension funds, Mario Pepe at the head of Covip while the game on the new 'silence of consent' for severance pay is played out

A new six-month period of 'silence-consent' to encourage the allocation of the severance pay fund to complementary pensions: this is the first challenge that Mario Pepe, who has been indicated by the government to go to the role of president of Covip, the Supervisory Commission on Pension Funds, could face. Just as the process is underway to give the final go-ahead to the appointment of Pepe, a doctor specialised in endocrinology and a former Fi MP, the battle over the amendments to the manoeuvre is about to begin in the Chamber of Deputies. And in the package of 'super-signalled' adjustments by the majority there are also some corrective measures on supplementary pensions that could pass.

On 3 December, former Forza Italia parliamentarian Mario Pepe was appointed by the government to lead Covip. In a communiqué issued by Palazzo Chigi, it is stated that, at the proposal of the Minister of Labour, Marina Calderone, the Council of Ministers 'has resolved to initiate the procedure' for the appointment of Pepe as president of the Authority. A doctor specialised in Endocrinology, Pepe was born in Bellosguardo (Salerno) in 1951, and succeeds the acting president of Covip, Francesca Balzani, herself a former MEP of the Italian Democratic Party.

From 10 December, the game in the House Budget Committee on the amendments to the manoeuvre should start to get into full swing. Among the 280 or so 'super-signalled' amendment proposals there is also the one by the chairman of the Labour Committee, Walter Rizzetto (Fdi), which envisages a new six-month 'silence-assent' window for allocating severance pay to pension funds as of 1 January 2025. A correction that is substantially in line with the wish expressed in recent months by Minister Calderone himself and also with some of the League's requests. The package of amendments to the pensions chapter of the budget bill also includes a retouching promoted by the Carroccio (signed by Tiziana Nisini) that aims to allow the value of supplementary annuities to be counted, on request, to reach the minimum amount required for access to old age and early retirement pensions.

From Covip data it emerges that from 2007, in the wake of the reform that favoured the 'channelling' of 'accruing' severance pay into pension funds, a flow of 'liquidations' of about 438 billion was generated up to the end of 2023: more than half (55.3%, equal to 241.9 billion) remained in the company. To the treasury fund, managed by the Inps, 98.5 billion (22.5% of the total) have flowed and 97.3 billion (22.2%) have taken the path of supplementary pensions.

In the course of a hearing before the Bicameral Commission for the Control of the Activities of Social Security Institutions, held on 25 November, the Minister of the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, stated that 'an in-depth reflection on the appropriateness of innovating a system that, excluding the interventions related to the transposition of certain European directives, is substantially the same as that outlined in the 2005 reform' appears necessary. According to Giorgetti, with the necessary involvement of the other competent Administrations (Ministry of Labour and Covip), and by initiating a dialogue with the social partners, 'the modernisation and competitiveness of the system' can be fostered, 'also drawing inspiration from the best international practices and experiences, by interventions aimed at: improving membership mechanisms; increasing contributions, with methods and timing consistent with public finance constraints; introducing stimuli for competition and the search for more efficient investment solutions'.