Contract with the Italians
Encyclopedia
The Contract with the Italians is a document presented and signed by Silvio Berlusconi
on May 8, 2001 during the television program Porta a Porta conducted by Bruno Vespa
. With it Silvio Berlusconi, head of the opposition at the time, committed himself, in the event of electoral victory, to enact various reforms summarized in 5 points, and in case of failure to achieve at least 4 points, not to run again subsequent elections.
's Contract with America
introduced six weeks before the 1994 US Congressional election.
Silvio Berlusconi
has repeatedly publicly affirmed that four of the five have been respected. The first point, namely the lowering of the rates would not have been implemented because of resistance within the center-right coalition.
According to sociologist Luca Ricolfi, when asked if Berlusconi had honored the contract with the Italians, he replied: "No. He did not have to stand for election if he was a man of honor. He had only a promise kept completely out of five, that of pensions. On average, the promises of Berlusconi were kept only 60%. "
Journalists Marco Travaglio
and Peter Gomez, in their book Le mille balle blu, have stated that none of the five points was complied and concluded ironically: "Although missed all five goals, Silvio Berlusconi is re-nominated. So does not maintain even the sixth and final commitment"
The economic measures led to a change of tax brackets. The two aliquots have not been introduced, while taxes on inheritance and donations have been effectively abolished for incomes over 350 million Lire (€ 180759.91).
According to ISTAT
data the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 decreased by 0.1%, from 40.7% to 40.6%, while according to estimates by the Berlusconi government, the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 would have fall by 0.4%, from 42.2% to 41.8% of GDP.
From the estimates of Marco Travaglio
and Peter Gomez, however, the tax burden during the legislature has increased overall, taking into account the increase of local taxes and tariffs..
, arrived about 2200, covering about 500 districts or areas of 10,000 inhabitants (approximately 9% of Italian population). This has not positively impacted on the number of offenses, which increased during the term: in the first two years, from 2001 to 2003, the increase amounted to 6.7% annually. From 2003 to 2004, allegations of crime that have led to prosecution increased by 3.7%..
Also in 2001, according to accounts by ISTAT
, the number of crimes reported to the police was not 3 million, but 2,163,826.
.
Those who have actually cashed the increase to one million lire (€ 516) were 1 800 000 million, about 25%, while about 6 million continue to receive a pension lower. To keep the promise, would have served from 11 to 17 billion EUR (about 1 and a half points of GDP). Therefore Berlusconi decided to increase them only to those who was older than 70 years and couples with incomes not exceeding cumulative € 6,800 per year (clause not mentioned in the Contract).
in January 2001
the unemployment rate was 9.9% (a halving would require to go down to 4.95%), five years later, in 2006 had fallen to 7.1%, a record low in Italy , but still above the 4.95%.
The objective of the creation of 1 million and a half new employment, according to data published by Il Sole 24 Ore
has not been achieved. In fact, although in 2006 has been reached a historic high of employed amounted to 22.5 million, the total increase in employment was 1,074,000 units, which should be deducted 343.000 regularized workers, then coming down to about 700.000 employment.
Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi
claimed that adding up the works under construction and those entrusted, could be reached in June 2006 the 45% of investments.
Considering only the actual opening of the construction sites, the data showed that the Ministry of Infrastructure in January 2006
has achieved 21.4% of the planned investments. If the forecasts come true the Ministry of Infrastructure, reported in the budget document known as the Law on goal four years after its approval, could be reached by June 2006 to cover a maximum of 25.4%. It is considered that the time that elapses from reliance, not counted in the Contract with the Italians, until the opening of its site can be significant.
a sentence of civil court in Milan
established that the document has no contractual value and Silvio Berlusconi
had therefore not obligation to respect it as non-legally binding document.
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
on May 8, 2001 during the television program Porta a Porta conducted by Bruno Vespa
Bruno Vespa
Bruno Vespa is an Italian television and newspaper journalist.A former director of Italian state-owned TV channel Rai Uno's news program TG1, he is the founding host of the program Porta a Porta , which has been broadcast without interruption on RAI channels since 1996.Vespa was born in L'Aquila,...
. With it Silvio Berlusconi, head of the opposition at the time, committed himself, in the event of electoral victory, to enact various reforms summarized in 5 points, and in case of failure to achieve at least 4 points, not to run again subsequent elections.
History
The Contract with the Italians was not invented by Silvio Berlusconi, but was copied outright by his advisor Luigi Crespi from the Newt GingrichNewt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
's Contract with America
Contract with America
The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter, who was aided by Newt Gingrich, Robert Walker, Richard Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay, John Boehner and Jim Nussle, and in part using text...
introduced six weeks before the 1994 US Congressional election.
Debate on the application of the five points
A great debate has emerged about these points have been respected or not.Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
has repeatedly publicly affirmed that four of the five have been respected. The first point, namely the lowering of the rates would not have been implemented because of resistance within the center-right coalition.
According to sociologist Luca Ricolfi, when asked if Berlusconi had honored the contract with the Italians, he replied: "No. He did not have to stand for election if he was a man of honor. He had only a promise kept completely out of five, that of pensions. On average, the promises of Berlusconi were kept only 60%. "
Journalists Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio is an Italian investigative journalist, writer and commentator.-Biography:Travaglio was born in Turin. He started his career writing for Catholic publications such as Il nostro tempo , then worked for the renowned journalist Indro Montanelli for newspapers such as Il Giornale and...
and Peter Gomez, in their book Le mille balle blu, have stated that none of the five points was complied and concluded ironically: "Although missed all five goals, Silvio Berlusconi is re-nominated. So does not maintain even the sixth and final commitment"
Reduction of tax burden
Berlusconi agreed to move to a system of two rates, a 23% (for incomes up to about 100,000 euros) and a 33% (for incomes over 100,000 euros), with the addition of the exemption from fees for incomes less than 11,000 per year, also provided for the total abolition of taxes on inheritance and donations.The economic measures led to a change of tax brackets. The two aliquots have not been introduced, while taxes on inheritance and donations have been effectively abolished for incomes over 350 million Lire (€ 180759.91).
According to ISTAT
ISTAT
ISTAT may refer to:* International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading, an aircraft standards organization.* Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, the Italian National Institute of Statistics....
data the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 decreased by 0.1%, from 40.7% to 40.6%, while according to estimates by the Berlusconi government, the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 would have fall by 0.4%, from 42.2% to 41.8% of GDP.
From the estimates of Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio is an Italian investigative journalist, writer and commentator.-Biography:Travaglio was born in Turin. He started his career writing for Catholic publications such as Il nostro tempo , then worked for the renowned journalist Indro Montanelli for newspapers such as Il Giornale and...
and Peter Gomez, however, the tax burden during the legislature has increased overall, taking into account the increase of local taxes and tariffs..
Decrease in crime
The district police have been introduced gradually and according to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior in August 2005August 2005
This article lists the notable events of August 2005.-Events:-News collections and sources:* Wikipedia:News collections and sources....
, arrived about 2200, covering about 500 districts or areas of 10,000 inhabitants (approximately 9% of Italian population). This has not positively impacted on the number of offenses, which increased during the term: in the first two years, from 2001 to 2003, the increase amounted to 6.7% annually. From 2003 to 2004, allegations of crime that have led to prosecution increased by 3.7%..
Also in 2001, according to accounts by ISTAT
ISTAT
ISTAT may refer to:* International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading, an aircraft standards organization.* Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, the Italian National Institute of Statistics....
, the number of crimes reported to the police was not 3 million, but 2,163,826.
Increase of minimum pensions
In 2001, the UIL trade union has calculated that the elders who received less than one million lire a month pension was 5,901,244, at the end of 2002 rose to about 8 million, according to statistics of the economist Tito BoeriTito Boeri
Tito Michele Boeri is an Italian economist, currently professor of economics at Bocconi University, Milan and acts as Scientific Director of the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti.- Biography :...
.
Those who have actually cashed the increase to one million lire (€ 516) were 1 800 000 million, about 25%, while about 6 million continue to receive a pension lower. To keep the promise, would have served from 11 to 17 billion EUR (about 1 and a half points of GDP). Therefore Berlusconi decided to increase them only to those who was older than 70 years and couples with incomes not exceeding cumulative € 6,800 per year (clause not mentioned in the Contract).
Halving of unemployment
The goal of halving unemployment has not been reached. According to EurostatEurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
in January 2001
January 2001
January 2001: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December----...
the unemployment rate was 9.9% (a halving would require to go down to 4.95%), five years later, in 2006 had fallen to 7.1%, a record low in Italy , but still above the 4.95%.
The objective of the creation of 1 million and a half new employment, according to data published by Il Sole 24 Ore
Il Sole 24 Ore
Il Sole 24 Ore is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation.It was founded on 1965-11-09 as a merger between Il Sole, founded in 1865, and 24 Ore, founded in 1946. The headquarters are in Milan...
has not been achieved. In fact, although in 2006 has been reached a historic high of employed amounted to 22.5 million, the total increase in employment was 1,074,000 units, which should be deducted 343.000 regularized workers, then coming down to about 700.000 employment.
Opening of the sites
The fifth point involved "The opening of the sites for at least 40% of the investment scheduled in the Ten Year Plan for Great Works."Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi
Pietro Lunardi
-Career:Born at Parma, he took his degree in civil engineering and transportation at the University of Padua in 1966.He was Italian Minister for Infrastructure and Transportation from 2001 to 2006, and is the author of more than 130 publications.-References:...
claimed that adding up the works under construction and those entrusted, could be reached in June 2006 the 45% of investments.
Considering only the actual opening of the construction sites, the data showed that the Ministry of Infrastructure in January 2006
January 2006
January 2006: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December – →-1 January 2006 :...
has achieved 21.4% of the planned investments. If the forecasts come true the Ministry of Infrastructure, reported in the budget document known as the Law on goal four years after its approval, could be reached by June 2006 to cover a maximum of 25.4%. It is considered that the time that elapses from reliance, not counted in the Contract with the Italians, until the opening of its site can be significant.
Legal value of the Contract with the Italians
In January 2009January 2009
January 2009 was the first month of that year. It began on a Thursday and ended after 31 days on a Saturday.-Portal:Current events:This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from January 2009....
a sentence of civil court in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
established that the document has no contractual value and Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
had therefore not obligation to respect it as non-legally binding document.
External links
- APCOM-IPSOS poll: the contract was not honored for 60% of Italians (italian) (25/01/2006)
- Newspaper article (.pdf) of Il Sole 24 OreIl Sole 24 OreIl Sole 24 Ore is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation.It was founded on 1965-11-09 as a merger between Il Sole, founded in 1865, and 24 Ore, founded in 1946. The headquarters are in Milan...
- Newspaper article of Luca Ricolfi on La StampaLa StampaLa Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
(italian), 15/02/2006