EU, Fitto: OK to extend decontribution for the South
Measure linked to the EU Temporary Framework on State Aid, which provided for a 30% contribution exemption for companies in the Mezzogiorno
by Redazione Roma
2' min read
2' min read
The EU gave the green light to the extension until 31 December of the so-called decontribution South, a measure linked to the EU's temporary framework on state aid, which provided for a 30 per cent tax exemption for companies in the Middle South.
The OK was announced by the Minister for EU Affairs, the South, Cohesion and the NRP, Raffaele Fitto, at the end of a meeting with EU Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager in Brussels this morning. Now 'the aim is to transform' the measure, 'in agreement with the European Commission, into a longer-term and more investment-oriented instrument,' Fitto said.
Negotiation conducted under cover
The European Commission's green light came at the end of a negotiation conducted under the carpet in recent months by the minister. The talks between Fitto and Vestager centred on the issue of the southern decontribution, a measure linked to the temporary framework, the state aid instrument activated by the European Commission to deal with the pandemic and later following the war in Ukraine and due to expire on 30 June next.
"It is because of this temporary character that the southern decontribution in previous years was only authorised by Brussels for short periods and never longer than twelve months," a note explained.
"In the light of the disappearance of the temporary framework," the measure dedicated to companies in the South "will have to be modified and made more targeted by leveraging one or more different legal bases," Fitto stressed at the end of the meeting, reporting that he had "at the same time" thanked Vestager "for having accepted in compliance with European regulations, the Italian government's request for a modification of the measure and for a final extension for a further six months of the period to which the 'decontribution' applies, in the knowledge that it is at this stage a very important measure for the economy and employment in our Mezzogiorno". "This is an important result, the result of great commitment on the part of the government and which came at the end of a fruitful and in-depth dialogue with the European Commission," the minister added.
