Country Profile Fact Sheet – ITALY

Doing Business in the European Union

For the Chamber of Commerce

Department: Enterprise Europe Network

2010

2

Tutors

Vakkuri Madeleine

Perttu Matti

Jokinen Janne

Group members – Team 2

Chi Roland

Huttunen Yasmin

Keskinen Oona

Martin Alessandra

Obert Steffi

Vihinen Lauri

3

Table of content

1. OVERALL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY – ITALY 6

2. ITALY´S MACROECONOMY 8

2.1. GENERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 8

2.2. KEY INDICATORS 9

2.3. FORECAST 12

2.4. EXPORT-IMPORT BALANCE 13

2.5. LISBON AGENDA TARGET 14

2.6. SWOT ANALYSIS 15

3. ITALY’S MICROECONOMY 15

3.1. INTRODUCTION 15

3.2. MACHINERY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 17

3.2.1. THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY – FACTS 17

3.2.2. THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR ALL TOGETHER – FACTS 18

3.2.3. DURING THE RECESSION 18

3.3. TOURISM 19

3.3.1. THE TOURISM SECTOR – FACTS 19

3.3.2. DURING THE RECESSION 21

3.4. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROCESSING 21

3.5. TEXTILES, FOOTWEAR, AND FASHION 22

3.5.1. TEXTILES, FOOTWEAR, AND FASHION IN THE EU 23

3.5.2. TEXTILES, FOOTWEAR, AND FASHION IN ITALY 23

4. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY 24

4.1. BASIC INFORMATION 24

4.2. RESEARCH TARGET AREAS 24

4.3. IMPACT OF EU DEVELOPMENTS 25

4.4. STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH SYSTEM 25

4.5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FUNDING 26

5. INWARD INVESTMENT INCENTIVE 27

5.1. DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN ITALY 27

5.2. INVESTMENT INCENTIVES 28

5.3. SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN ITALY 28

5.4. FISCAL INCENTIVES 28

5.5. SECURITIES MARKET 29

5.6. COMPETITION 30

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6. HOW TO SET UP A COMPANY IN ITALY 30

6.1. COMMERCIAL CODE/ LEGAL FRAMEWORK 31

6.1.1. SETTING UP A BUSINESS 31

6.1.2. FOUNDING A BUSINESS WITH MORE PEOPLE 33

6.1.3. EUROPEAN WIDE PRIVATE LIABILITY COMPANY (SOCIETAS PRIVATA EUROPAEA – SPE) 34

6.1.4. TAKING OVER AN EXISTING BUSINESS 34

6.2. DIFFERENT FORMS OF BUSINESS (LIST) 35

6.3. SELECTING A BUSINESS NAME 36

6.4. LAWS AND REGULATIONS FOR THE FORMS OF BUSINESS 37

6.4.1. STOCK COMPANY (SOCIETÀ PER AZIONI - S.P.A.) 37

6.4.2. PRIVATE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (SOCIETÀ A RESPONSABILITÀ LIMITATA – S.R.L.) 40

6.5. FORMATION PROCEDURES 41

6.6. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS 41

6.6.1. ESTABLISHING A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY 42

6.6.2. ESTABLISHING A BRANCH 43

6.7. ACCOUNTING 43

6.8. AUDITING 44

6.9. BUSINESS SUPPORT 46

6.9.1. AT THE EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL 46

6.9.2. NATIONAL LEVEL 47

7. LABOUR LAW AND REGULATIONS 48

7.1. GENERAL INFORMATION ON EU LABOUR LAW 48

7.2. INDIVIDUAL WORKING CONDITIONS 49

7.3. ITALIAN LABOUR LEGISLATION 50

7.3.1. CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKER’S RIGHTS 51

7.3.2. HOURS OF WORK 52

7.3.3. PAID LEAVES 52

7.3.4. MATERNITY LEAVE 52

7.4. ITALY LABOUR MARKET 53

7.4.1. GENERAL INFORMATION 53

7.4.2. WAGES 53

7.4.3. SOCIAL SECURITY 54

7.4.4. MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND CONDITIONS 54

8. TAXATION 55

8.1. CORPORATE INCOME TAX (IMPOSTA SUL REDDITO DELLE SOCIETÀ - IRES) 55

8.2. REGIONAL CORPORATE TAX (IMPOSTA REGIONALE SULLE ATTIVITÀ PRODUTTIVE - IRAP) 56

8.3. FILING TAX RETURNS (IRES AND IRAP) 56

8.4. VALUE ADDED TAX (IMPOSTA SUL VALORE AGGIUNTO - IVA) 56

8.5. PERSONAL INCOME TAX 57

8.6. ITALY REPORTING DATES AND PAYMENT OF THE TAXES 58

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8.7. EXCISE DUTY 58

8.8. REAL ESTATE / LAND TAX 58

9. BANKING SYSTEM & NATIONAL BANK 59

9.1. LOCAL CURRENCY & MONETARY ISSUE 59

9.2. PAYMENT SYSTEMS 60

9.3. SINGLE EURO PAYMENTS AREA (SEPA) 60

10. CONSUMER AFFAIRS 61

10.1. CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SUPPORT AT EU LEVEL 62

10.2. CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SUPPORT IN ITALY 63

11. MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND MARKET CONDITIONS FOR SMES 64

11.1. OVERALL VIEW OF SMES IN ITALY 64

11.2. SMES FINANCIAL SCHEMES 65

11.2.1. STATE AID 65

11.2.2. INDIRECT AND DIRECT FUNDING 66

11.2.3. STATE GUARANTEES 66

11.2.4. EUROPEAN SUPPORT PROGRAMMES FOR SMES 67

12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 67

12.1. TRADEMARKS 68

12.2. PATENTS 69

13. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES 70

13.1. THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT 71

14. FURTHER USEFUL INFORMATION 72

15. USEFUL LINKS 74

16. APPENDICES 77

17. SOURCES 79

18. SOURCE PERMISSIONS 86

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1. Overall view of the country – Italy

Official name: La Repubblica Italiana, Italian republic

Official abbreviation: IT

Surface area: 301,340 km²(including Sardinia and Sicily)

Population: 60.4 million (2/2010)

Official language: Italian (two bilingual regions: Alto Adige - German and Italian; Valle

d'Aosta - French and Italian)

Government form: Parliamentary Republic

Capital: Rome

Currency: Euro

(Eurostat 2010; Invitalia Country profile 2010.)

The peninsula of Italy is located in Southern Europe and extends into the Mediterranean Sea. The

location enables links all over Europe by land, air and sea and to 436 million consumers in Europe

and 240 million consumers in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Italy has 7,600 km of coast line.

98 % of Italy’s surface is land and 2 % is water. (CIA 2010; Invitalia Why Italy 2010.)

Italy has Europe’s second largest network of infrastructure. It cover more than 1 million kilometres

of road, including 13, 7 % of the motorways in the whole EU. Italian railways have a network of

16,300 kilometres of track and Italy’s total number of ports is 263. (Invitalia Why Italy 2010.)

Italy has land boundaries with six countries: Austria, France, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia and

Switzerland. The Republic of San Marino and the Vatican City are located inside the peninsula, but

they are two independent countries. (Invitalia Country profile 2010.)

Italy has 3 big islands – Sardinia, Sicily and Elba with about 70 small islands. (Member states of the

EU Italy 2010.)

The major climate in Italy is Mediterranean, but in North of the country the climate is alpine. In the

very south of the country the climate is hot and dry. Italy is geographically very mountainous. (CIA

2010; Member states of the EU Italy 2010.)

Italy is one of the six founding member states of European Union (EU), creating the European Eco-

nomic Community (EEC) in 1957 by signing the Treaty of Rome. EEC later became the EU. In 1999

Italy joined the European Economic and Monetary Union and the Euro was introduced as the official

currency in 2002. The currency formerly was the Lira. Italy is also a charter member of the military

alliance NATO. (Info Italy 2005.)

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The chief of state is President Giorgio Napolitano (since 2006) and the head of government is Prime

Minister Silvio Berlusconi (since 2006). The prime minister represents Italy in the Council of Minis-

ters and is appointed by the parliament and approved by the president. The presidential elections

are held once every seven year term; the next presidential election will be held 2013 and there are

no restrictions to re-election. Italy has a two chamber- parliament system. The chambers are: the

Senate (Senato della Repubblica) which is a upper house and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei

deputati). Elections of the parliament are held every five years. Italy has been divided into 20 admin-

istrative regions, of which 5 are autonomous (Friuli-Venezia Giulia; Sardegna (Sardinia); Sicilia (Sic-

ily); Trentino-Alto Adige; Valle d'Aosta). The legal system used in Italy is based on the civil law. (CIA

2010; Invitalia Country profile 2010.)

Figure 1: Percentage of GDP from the economical sectors (Ministry of foreign affairs 2009).

The structure of the Italian economy is similar to developed OECD countries, with a decreasing, but

important primary sector, a still significant industry and a growing tertiary sector. With a consider-

able strong tourism, the service industry represents more than two thirds of the national GDP. (Min-

istry of foreign affairs 2009.) Italy is ranked 7th regarding the industrialized countries of the world.

The northern parts of Italy are amongst the richest in Europe (per capita).The development of the

Italian economy however depends geographically. In the north good infrastructure and a trained

labour force can be found, whereas the South (also called Mezzogiorno) lacks these characteristics

and therefore incentives are given towards the development and especially for the industrialization.

(Member states of the EU Italy 2010; Uhy International Ltd. 2009, 3-4.)

99.9 % of the enterprises in Italy are small and medium sized. Representing especially more micro

enterprises than the EU-27 average (94.6 % in comparison to 91.8 %). The most important economic

sectors of Italy are tourism, fashion, agriculture, chemicals, engineering and motor vehicles. 68 % of

the population of Italy lives in the cities. 90 % of Italians are Roman Catholics. (CIA 2010; European

Commission 2008; Member states of the EU Italy 2010.)

2%

29%

69%

primary sector

secondary sector

tertiary sector

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2. Italy´s macroeconomy

2.1. General economic development

Regarding to the development of the macro economy in Italy we can notice a moderate growth after

the recession:

Decline of GDP 2008: mainly due to structural problems which affected the productivity

growth.

The GDP 2009: relative growth in Italy (0.6 %), compared to the average GDP growth of 0.4 %

in the Euro Area.

High government debt (115.8 % of the GDP in 2009) put burden onto the economy of Italy.

The industrial production has been 1 % lower than average as an effect of the structural

problems, will probably increase now as well as in the whole Euro Area.

At the same time imports fell accompanied by a fall in domestic demand. With the remaining

sentiment of an uncertain growth in the economy and furthermore the slow growth in Italy

itself investment expenditures fell by 12 % in total for the year 2009.

Due to the structural problems the private consumption started already to drop at the be-

ginning of 2008 and continued to fall because of the economic crisis. With the measures from

the government to especially support poor, low income and the consumption of daily pur-

chase of consumables the private consumption recovers and has already a 0.5 % higher

growth than average. For 2010 private consumption is expected to be the main driver of

growth in Italy.

With the highest government debts in the whole Euro Area, which are forecasted to increase to

118.9 % by 2011, Italy is facing a challenging future where only a moderate growth in the economy is

forecasted.

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2.2. Key indicators

Figure 2: Evolution of GDP in volume (European Commission 2010d).

A slowdown of the Italian economy could be observed even before the deepening of the financial

crisis with the GDP decreasing since 2007. Even if the indebtedness of the household was low and

Italy had some shelter from the financial trouble owing to a relative solid financial system, the deep-

seated structural problems lead to an unsatisfactory productivity growth. This is what weakened the

internal economy. When the global crisis appeared, Italy cumulated a loss of real GDP up to 6.5 %

(between 08Q1 and 09Q2), which is the highest loss in the Euro Area countries. Italy’s economy is

forecasted to become positive in 2010 (+0.8%).

The economy activity is projected to recover gradually thanks to the domestic factor. Indeed, the

private consumption is going to improve and according to the European Commission, this improve-

ment will rely on several factors:

As the global financial crisis is over, the precautionary savings made in 2008 and 2009 are ex-

pected to be reduced by the household sector.

The role of pension funds and the absence of a housing bubble are expected to help mini-

mize negative wealth effects on aggregate consumption.

The moderate inflation anticipated for the 2009/2011 period is going to help for the recover-

ing of the purchasing power after the losses of 2008.

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Figure 3: General government gross debt (European Commission 2010d).

The gross government debt are expected to rise up to approximately 118.2 % for the year 2010, and

to continue rising over the forecast horizon, to around 118.9 % in 2011.

Figure 4: HICP (European Commission 2010d).

The Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) was created especially in order to be able to com-

pare European inflation figures. This inflation figure shows the change in price of a standard package

of goods and services which Italian households purchase for consumption. To determine the rate of

inflation, the percentage increase in the HICP is calculated over a given period. The inflation, as it was

projected, decelerated to 0.8 % in 2009, the inflation has been squeezed by the fall in energy prices

and the compression of business profit margins. It is then projected to increase, to 2 % in 2011, fur-

ther widening the differential with the Euro Area. Core inflation is anticipated to remain below 2 %

over the forecast horizon. Therefore Italy is perfectly matching the Maastricht criteria concerning the

HICP.

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Figure 5: Unemployment rate (European Commission 2010d).

Italy’s unemployment rate is staying stable. Even if it’s growing up to 7.8 % it’s still one of the lowest

rates in Europe. The labour force has been falling since the second half of 2008. This evolution was

particularly visible in the poorest regions of Italy. One reason is the discouragement of finding a job

in these regions. As a consequence, the unemployment rate has increased only moderately 2009.

The regularisation of immigrant workers, most of them in-home caregivers, at the end of 2009

should have a favourable impact. However, the rate continues to increase for 2010 due to the as-

sumed further decline in employment, and to stabilise in 2011.

Figure 6: General government balance (as a % of the GDP) (European Commission 2010d).

The government deficit had fallen to 5.3 % of GDP in 2009 (from 2.7 % in 2008) and is going to stay

around this level for 2010 and 2011. The government's response to the crisis was carefully balanced

considering the high government debt and global risks. Therefore measures to support low-income

groups and major industrial sectors have been financed mainly by reallocating existing funds.

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2.3. Forecast

The economic future of Italy in comparison with the Maastricht criteria:

Figure 7: Main features of country forecast (European Commission 2010d).

According to the Commission services’ autumn 2009 forecast, Italy is not going to match the Maas-

tricht criteria in all its indicators.

Concerning the government debt, Italy has the highest rate in the whole Euro Area and its gross debt

is going to increase up to 118.9 % of the GDP. However, Italy succeeded in having mainly long term

debt and that is why the country’s economy is still “active”.

Concerning the government deficit, the rate was matching the Maastricht criteria before the global

crisis came. In 2008, the balance was -2.7 %. The economic crisis worsened the situation, but an im-

provement can be seen after 2010, especially thanks to the increase of the trade balance

Annual percentage change Maastricht criteria

Key indicators 2009 2010 2011

HICP 0.8 1.8 2 < 2 %

gov. gross debt (% of GDP) 115.8 118.2 118.9 < 60 % of the GDP

gov. balance (% of GDP) -5.3 -5.3 -5.0 < -3 % of the GDP

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2.4. Export-Import balance

Figure 8: Trade balance (goods and services) (European Commission 2010d).

Because of the collapse in global demand, Italy's external performance went into trouble:

The export volumes declined by 19 % in 2009 as a whole

Demand for goods across most manufacturing sectors is being hard hit

Exports of services declined as well, although at a less marked pace

The significant fall in domestic demand in 2009 affected the imports volume

Although the exports dropped significantly the assumed lower commodity prices should lead to an

improvement in the trade balance of Italy.

Trading Partners (CIA 2010.)

Italy’s first import partners (2008):

Country % of imports

Germany 15.9 %

France 8.5 %

China 6.2 %

Netherlands 5.3 %

Libya 4.6 %

Russia 4.2 %

Italy’s first export partners (2008):

Country % of exports

Germany 12.7 %

France 11.2 %

Spain 6.5 %

US 6.2 %

UK 5.2 %

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The forecasted demand increase from Italy’s trading partners will have a positive impact on exports.

Imports are projected to regain even more strength and therefore the trade balance will remain sta-

ble in 2010 and 2011.

(European Commission 2010d.)

2.5. Lisbon agenda target

The Lisbon agenda, also known as Lisbon Strategy or Process, is a plan of development for the Euro-

pean Union. The purpose of the agenda is to make the EU “the most competitiveness and dynamic

knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and

better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010”.

The APGJ (Action Plan for Growth and Jobs 2008-2010) is the government´s strategy for increasing

the economic competitiveness. It helps the Lisbon Agenda targets and thus the European Union

growth and job strategy.

In order to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the Italian economy, the government sets

important objectives in the plan for the year 2010, also know for the Italian National Reform Pro-

gramme (NRP).

Especially because of the crisis, Italy, like several country in Europe, had to change their expectation

concerning the economic forecast in their national reform programme. According to the Inter-

ministerial Committee for EU Affairs, the need of reform to meet the Lisbon Agenda are the follow-

ing:

Stability of the public finances

More free choice for public and businesses

Incentives for research and innovation

Adjustment of tangible and intangible infrastructures

Environmental protection

Education and training

Policies for employment and social inclusion

(European Commission 2009c.)

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Figure 10: Triangolo Industriale.

2.6. SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Exporting nation

Government support shows effect on

public demand

Tourism is very stable

Leader in leather and textile production

Stable market share in the wine and olive

oil exports (1st or 2nd)

Weaknesses

Fragile public finances

The high deficit hindering economy

growth

Very high public debt

Heavy industry

Slow, inefficient administration

Unbalanced labour market participation

High gender gap

Opportunities

Increase market for luxury product (cars

and fashion)

Improve financial structure

Attract more investments

Labour force available

Threats

Strong competition in manufacturing and

automotive sectors

Economic inequality between the regions

Not matching the Maastricht criteria

Figure 9: SWOT analysis for the Italian economy.

3. Italy’s Microeconomy

3.1. Introduction

Italy can be divided in three economic regions between which the main

sectors differ. Northern Italy is very industrialized and counts as the

country’s economic center with cities like Milan, Turin and Genoa,

which form the so called triangolo industriale (industrial triangle).

In 2007 GDP in this region: 837,463 Million Euros (54.5 % of It-

aly’s total GDP)

38.6 % of agricultural employees

59.7 % of industry workers

48.6 % of service employees

� Industry dominates this region (ISTAT 2009.)

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North54%Center

22%

South and Islands

24%

Share of GDP per Region

Central Italy depends on textile and clothing industry. Services are the biggest sector in central Italy,

including especially tourism. Due to the fact that Rome with its many administration offices is located

here, this region hosts many international companies and organizations.

In 2007 GDP 331,683 Million Euros (21.6 % of total GDP)

12.8 % of agricultural employees

18.6 % of industry workers

22.1 % of service employees (ISTAT 2009.)

� Relatively small part of the country, therefore quite productive region

Southern Italy and Italy’s Islands are the least developed region of the country and counted among

the most economically undeveloped regions of Western Europe. Agriculture is dominating this re-

gion’s output. Organized crimes and the country’s underground economy are at the highest level

here and have control over many economic branches.

GDP 364,920 Million Euros (23.8 % of total DGP)

48.5 % of agricultural employees

29.3 % of service employees

21.6 % of industry workers (ISTAT 2009)

� Lack of industrialization in this area

Figure 11: Share of GDP per Region (ISTAT 2009).

Overall, the main sectors in the Italian economy are:

Machinery and motor vehicles

Tourism

Agriculture and food processing

Textiles and clothing

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3.2. Machinery and Motor Vehicles

Italy’s major car producer is the Fiat Group, which increased its revenues by 1.5 % to 59.4 billion

Euros in 2009. Automobile producers belonging to the Fiat Group are:

Fiat

Alfa Romeo

Lancia

Maserati

Ferrari

Iveco (trucks)

CNH (agricultural equipment)

Also, components and production system producers as Fiat Powertrain Technologies, Magneti Ma-

relli, TEKSID, and COMAU belong to it. (Fiat group 2010.)

Other Italian motor vehicle producers are:

Aprilia

Ducatio

Piaggio

The car and everything around it has a very high value in Italy. Racing, design and engineering are

aspects that all matter and reasons why this industry is so successful in the country. Also, the general

appreciation of status symbols and luxury trigger this industry and create a big market around it.

3.2.1. The automotive industry – facts

Contribution to Italy’s GDP with 8.5 %

Directly-employed labor force: around 200,000 people

Biggest producers in EU27 are Germany, France, Spain, the UK and 5th Italy

968,656 produced vehicles in 2007

Car density per 1000 Italians is at 598 (on average more than every second Italian owns a car)

(European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.)

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Interpreting these numbers it is clear that there is great potential in this relatively stable and secure

business area. The country is very advanced concerning technology and manufacturing and therefore

the environment for a successful company in the automotive industry is given.

3.2.2. The industrial sector all together – facts

Contribution to Italy’s GDP with 25 % (Index Mundi 2010)

98.8 % of industrial enterprises are manufacturing companies

0.6 % are in mining business

0.5 % of are producers of energy

Industrial centre of Italy is the north (59.7 % of all industry workers)

Average personnel costs 35,000 Euros

Value added per person: 47,600

Wage adjusted labour productivity 135.9 % (Johansson, U. 2006.)

Relative value added by industry sector: 20.8 % of the total value added

- construction adds another 6.2 % (ISTAT 2009)

Germany most specialized EU member state in terms of value added in manufacturing and

machinery (6.1 %)

Italy 2nd (5.2 %) (Johansson, U. 2006.)

In 2007 total value of exported goods: 358.6 billion Euros

- 87.3 % of this was manufactured goods (313.06 billion Euros)

- Machinery and vehicle export had a value of 137.2 billion Euros

- = 43.8 % of manufactured goods, 38.2 % of all exports (Eurostat 2002)

Italy is the second largest producer of metals & metal products, machinery & equipment and furni-

ture & other manufacturing behind Germany (Eurostat 2009). This shows that Italy is a great choice

as host country for a company in this sector.

3.2.3. During the recession

Industrial production decreased drastically

Since the middle of 2009: trend is positive again

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Country’s industry is recovering since July 2009, compared to the month before (Eurostat

2010b)

Exports increasing drastically again

Italy is home of six of the world’s 100 biggest companies, the biggest being the Fiat group and ENI, an

oil and gas producer (Forbes 2009). However, 99.9 % of Italian companies are SMEs with 94.6 % of

which being micro companies. These values are above the EU27 average. 81.3 % of all employees

work in SMEs and the value added by SMEs is 70.9 %. SMEs are very common in Italy and operate in

all fields of business. Usually they are very successful due to specialization in serving niche markets.

3.3. Tourism

“Tourism means the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual envi-

ronment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” (De-

munter, Dimitrakopoulou, Eurostat 2010).

3.3.1. The tourism sector – facts

Within Europe Italy has 4th highest number of employees in the tourism sector (23,203,000 in

2009Q2)

Behind Germany, the UK, and France

Before Turkey and Spain

Italy 5th in national arrivals of foreign tourists in 2008 with 43,498,154

20

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Finland France Germany Italy Spain The UK

Tourism in % of GDP

Tourism in % of Labor Force

Figure 12: Tourism's percentage of GDP and Labour Force (Demunter, Dimitrakopoulou, Eurostat

2010).

Tourism in Italy contributes to almost 5 % of the country’s GDP (Demunter, Dimitrakopoulou,

Eurostat 2010.)

Employs almost 10 % of Italy’s labour force (OECD 2010)

22.5 % of total value added from tourism

Compared to 20.8 % from industry excluding construction (ISTAT 2009)

One of fastest growing and most profitable industrial sectors:

- Estimated revenue of € 31.4 billion (2008)

- Because: stable industry and all-year-round travel destination

� This sector is very well suited for opening a new and fresh business.

53,277,000 Italians went on vacation inside Italy in 2007 (ISTAT 2009)

On average 4 nights spent in Italy

53.6 % of all tourists stay in Northern Italy

27.7 % go to Central Italy

18.7 % go to the South and the Italian Islands

Most visited Italian regions:

- Tuscany (10.9 %)

- Art towns (33.7 %)

- Seaside and lake locations (23.8 and 11.6 %)

- Alps (11.1 %)

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There are three main seasons for tourism in Italy:

Winter for skiing in the Alps and visiting Rome during Christmas since it is a Christian holiday

Spring and around Easter many people visit the country to go on city trips or again for reli-

gious reasons

Summer: beaches on the Mediterranean Sea, lakes, the historical cities, etc.

� Italy is interesting all year round.

3.3.2. During the recession

Tourism is a very stable industry in Italy. This is proven by the fact that with the crisis there was a

decrease of only 3.4 % in the number of nights spent in collective accommodation in 2009 compared

to 2008 in total. Nights spent in hotels in Italy dropped by 4.3 % to 238 million, which is below the

5 % average of the EU27 in 2009. (Demunter, Dimitrakopoulou, Eurostat 2010.)

3.4. Agriculture and Food Processing

Big companies in the Italian food processing sector are:

- Ferrero

- The Barilla Group

- Martini & Rossi

- Campari

- Parmalat

Contribution to GDP: 2.1 %

Value Added in 2007: 2.03 % (OECD Stat Extracts 2010.)

3.8 % of Italy’s labour force

� This does not seem to be a lot but there are some very special features about Italy’s agriculture.

The country is:

- The biggest producer of wine in the world with 1,826,635 tons before France with

1,492,933 tons

- The second biggest producer of olive oil with 291,074 tons behind Spain with 620,772

tons (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2009)

6 % of Italy’s total exports are food and beverage products

� Because of these characteristics it could be very lucrative to open a business in agriculture.

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The main crops are:

- Citrus and fruit trees (24.7 %)

- Maize (24.4 %)

- Wheat (17.8 %)

- Tomatoes (16.2 %)

- Sugar beets (8.6 %)

- Olives (8.1 %)

- Grapes (2.6 %) (ISTAT 2009)

North: grains, sugar beets, soybeans, meat and dairy products

South: fruits, vegetables, olive oil, wine and durum wheat (US Department of State 2009)

About 42.3 % of Italy’s area (that is 324,961,290 ha) in agricultural use

- 45.3 % of this area in South

- 36.5 % in North

- 18.2 % in Centre

Most farms and firms for the production of agricultural products are small or medium sized, usually

family owned and most of them are located in the south.

3.5. Textiles, Footwear, and Fashion

Italy’s most famous names for this business sector are:

Armani

Valentino

Versace

Dolce & Gabbana

Cavalli

Benetton

Prada

Luxottica, the world’s largest eye glass producer (Eurostat 2009.)

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3.5.1. Textiles, Footwear, and Fashion in the EU

SMEs based sector

- Companies of less than 50 employees account for more than 90 % of the workforce

(238,000 employees)

- Produce almost 60 % of the value added within the EU

Clothing widespread in the southern countries

- = clothes that can be worn by people

Textiles (= fabrics, it does not matter whether those are for clothing or for other use)

- 20 % of all textiles and clothing products sold on the external market

- Biggest textiles and clothing producers within the EU are:

- Italy with 21.8 billion Euros of value added (33.6 % of EU-27 value added in

2006)

- Germany (12.1 %)

- France (11.6 %)

- Spain (9.2 %)

- The UK (7.8 %)

- Italy specialized in manufacture of textiles, clothing and leather

- Specialization in this business area only stronger in Romania and Bulgaria

- Exports of textiles, clothing and leather goods 4.1 % of all industrial exports of EU27

Italy largest trade surplus in this field (16.7 billion Euros)

3.5.2. Textiles, Footwear, and Fashion in Italy

Italy is largest manufacturer for:

- Textiles with value added of 8.7 billion Euros (28.9 % of EU)

- Leather products with value added of 5.9 billion Euros (49.5 % of the EU, which is the

largest share of any industrial subsection in the EU, it is equivalent to 0.9 % of the value

added generated across the non-financial business economy)

� Due to Italy’s great specialization in these fields and the strong position and famous reputa-

tion of the country when it comes to luxurious brands creates a great environment for new

companies with great potential for success and profits.

24

4. Research and development in Italy

4.1. Basic information

The most remarkable event in the field of research and development (R&D) was the creation of Min-

istry of Education and Research in 1989. Before that, it was the task of the National Research Council

to be responsible for coordinating the public research system. (Erawatch 2010.)

The R&D expenditure as a share of GDP in 2008 was 1.18 %. Private business research is concen-

trated in the few large companies that form the industry along with very numerous small and me-

dium sized enterprises. The R&D expenditure of the business enterprise sector was in 2008 0.6 % of

GDP and in 2009 the percentage was 0.65. The percentage what business enterprise sector expends

on R&D has been growing since 1999 (0.5 % of GDP of the year) but the growth has been signifi-

cantly slow. (Erawatch 2010, Eurostat R&D 2010.)

In Italy there were in 2006 137,163 researchers and 35,350 of them worked in the business enter-

prise sector. In 2006, 88,430 of the total researchers were full-time equivalent and the comparable

amount in 2008 was 96,303, which shows the development in this area. However, in 2008 the

amount of the research and development personnel was only 0.94 % of the labour force. This is even

lower than the EU average which was 1.03 %. The percentage in the business enterprise sector was

0.4 in Italy and 0.54 in the European Union. (Eurostat R&D 2010.)

4.2. Research Target Areas

The Research Policy of Italy mainly focuses on developing the scientific base of the country on fol-

lowing areas:

The development of the Italian Institute of Technology

Promoting the internationalisation and growth of human capital

Improving the technological level of the economic system

Sustaining the participation of national science into the EU and other international research

programmes

Public welfare

(Erawatch 2010.)

25

The abovementioned goals are pursued with 12 different fields of strategic programmes of innova-

tion, which are:

Health

Pharmaceuticals

Biomedical

Manufacturing systems

Motor design and manufacture

Shipyard and aviation industry

Ceramics

Telecommunications

Agro food

Advanced logistics and transportation

Information and communication technology and electronic components

Energy micro generation

(Erawatch 2010.)

4.3. Impact of EU developments

The recent developments in the EU have significant impacts on the Italian R&D system. As a result,

R&D activities form a relevant area in Italian policy actions based on measures related to the Na-

tional Growth Strategy and to the development of the research system and its performers. The EU

enlargement can be identified as a concern to the productive system because Italian firms are

strongly committed to investments in new EU countries. (Erawatch 2010.)

4.4. Structure of research system

The Italian research system is mainly governed by two main bodies: the Council of Ministers and the

Inter-Ministry Committee for the Economic Planning (CIPE). The operational level is also handled by

two main ministries: MIUR - Ministry of University and Research and the ministry for economic de-

velopment. MIUR coordinates national and international scientific activities and distributes the funds

appropriated to universities and research agencies. The Ministry for Economic Development supports

the industrial R&D by managing financial tools of intervention in industrial research.

26

Other research institutions are as follows:

National Research Council

Italian Aerospace Research Centre

National Institute for Astrophysics

Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Environment

Higher institute for Health

Council for Research and Experimentation in Agriculture

Italian Space Agency

National Institute of Nuclear Physics

Health Ministry

IIT (Italian Technology Institute)

(Erawatch 2010.)

The structure of the Italian research system is explained more detailed in a graph in appendix 1.

4.5. Research and development funding

Most government funding for R&D is under the responsibility of central government which in prac-

tice is the MIUR.

MUIR’s funding can be divided into two main categories:

General funding to higher education institutions: this includes the Ordinary Fund for Higher

Education (FFO) provided by MIUR to public and private universities. FFO covers expendi-

tures for both teaching and research activities.

The Fondo ordinario per ricerca e sviluppo (Ordinary Fund for R&D): this represents the core

funding of the public non-university institutes. The Fund is a framework included in the

yearly national financial law, whose aim is to plan R&D by areas, domains and themes.

Other ministries care for the general funding of non-university public research institutes under their

control. (Erawatch 2010.)

27

5. Inward investment incentive

5.1. Direct foreign investments in Italy

The Italian Trade Commission (ICE) reported in January 2007 that there were 7,200 foreign compa-

nies operating in Italy. These companies employ about 1 million people. The stock of foreign invest-

ments in Italy equals only 12 % of the GDP, which is far less than in other EU countries. Over ¾ of all

foreign companies operate in the wealthy north, namely in Lombardia. The main reasons for pre-

venting a company from entering the Italian market according to ICE: labour taxes, lack of labour,

flexibility, bureaucracy and high corporate taxes. Net direct investment inflows in 2007 were 28.5

billion Euros.

The Italian government encourages foreign investors to invest in Italian companies. There has been a

lack of domestic ventures capital in Italy so the Italian government is pursuing investments in to the

country.

As an EU member state, Italy has to follow many rules and treaties issued by the EU. These treaties

also have an impact on business investments. Generally speaking Italy and the EU are very liberal

when it comes to foreign trade and investments in particular. Foreign investments can be made to

nearly all fields of business but there are some specific fields that are off limits or allow limited par-

ticipation for non-Italians. Exceptions include film industry: added capital is required for banks from

non EU-states. There are also limits in the shipping industry. Defence industries are completely off

limits to non-Italians.

The Italian government has the right to intervene in business that it considers to be suspicious or to

be able to create a monopoly. For instance, mergers and acquisitions over a certain financial thresh-

old are subject to review. The government can also prohibit entrance into the Italian market if the

business is essential for the national economy or if the home government of the entering company

applies discriminatory measures against Italian companies.

Foreign investors are allowed to invest in the privatization of government owned companies, exclud-

ing defence industry. There is a rule that stipulates that the Italian government or an Italian share-

holder must retain a “golden share” of the ownership of the company. This is to keep the controlling

authority in Italy. Italy is the only EU state to have this kind of regulations.

(Advameg Inc. 2010; Buyusa 2010.)

28

Italy has an agency run by the government to promote inward investment and enterprise develop-

ment - Invitalia1. On their website information about the investment opportunities in Italy and other

useful information regarding inward investments can be found.

5.2. Investment incentives

The Italian government offers only modest incentives to foreign investors. These incentives are

mainly targeted to boost the economy of the more depressed areas, southern Italy in particular. The

Ministry of Universities and Research has created the Framework Programme Agreements with

eleven specific fields to boost the development of different industries. These specific fields of devel-

opment are created to ease cooperation between public and private researchers and venture capital-

ists, support the research and development of key technologies, strengthen industrial research activi-

ties, and promote innovative behaviour in SMEs. (Buyusa 2010.)

5.3. Special economic zones in Italy

There are two free trade zones in Italy. The zones are Venice and Trieste in the northern part of the

country. In the free trade zones the companies are given benefits such as an exemption from taxes

and duties on imported raw materials that are used to produce products that will be exported. Com-

panies also have a right to bring employees from foreign countries subject to the labour laws of the

country of origin. (World Tax Inc 2010b.) In the free trade zones there are numerous of warehouses

located in the ports and cities that have no limitations as to the type of origin of the products that

can be stored. The limit for the storage is 5 years.

5.4. Fiscal incentives

The Italian tax system considers all companies, foreign and domestic, the same. In 2008, a reform of

corporate tax system was created renewing corporate taxation. Corporate tax level was lowered

from 33 to 27.5 %. There is also a union wide competition on investments going on. Especially new

1 http://www.invitalia.it/on-line/eng/Home.html

29

member states are really appealing to foreign investors due to low labour costs. So Italy’s corporate

taxation cuts are their response to this competition. (Buyusa 2010.)

5.5. Securities market

The Milan Stock Exchange named as Borsa Italiana S.p.A. is the main stock exchange in Italy. The

Borsa Italiana’s main responsibilities are managing Italy’s derivatives market (IDEM and MIF) and its

fixed income market (MOT= Electronic Government Bonds and Securities market). On the MOT the

buy and sell contracts are traded on government securities and nonconvertible bonds.

There are two ways of listing bonds: procedures for financial instruments issued under programme

and stand alone procedure. A company which intends to become public by issuing a programme for

bonds may apply to the Italian exchange for a declaration of qualification to listing of the bonds. The

Italian exchange has to prove the declaration within sixty days of the date of the documentation. The

issuer has to satisfy the conditions and requirements laid by Borsa Italiana S.p.A. After receiving the

declaration of admissibility and after the bonds are made public by the company, in order to list

bonds under the programme the company shall apply listing to the Italian Exchange. Within five trad-

ing days of the date of the documentation the Italian Exchange shall decide and notify the company

of their decision and announce disclosure.

In standalone procedure the company has to apply the listing from the Italian Exchange. Within two

months from the date of the documentary the Italian Exchange will announce their acceptance or

rejection and notify the company. The admission shall be completed when the Italian exchange es-

tablishes a starting date for the trading and announces it in disclosure.

Issuer requirements:

The company has to be published and filed

Consolidated annual accounts for the last three financial years

Auditor’s opinion of the last financial year

Recently established firms need a pro forma income statement, a pro forma cash flow state-

ment and a pro forma balance sheet accompanied with a report of the auditing firm contain-

ing its opinion on the reasonableness of the plans (also the firms whose assets and liabilities

have undergone changes in the financial year preceding the application year)

A monthly statistics of the Bonds can be seen in appendix 2. (Borsa Italiana 2010.)

30

5.6. Competition

In Italy there is an authority called Autorita’ Carante Della Conconrenza e Del Mercanto that is deal-

ing with competition issues. Its tasks involve controlling agreements that prevent competition,

abuses of dominant position and mergers & acquisitions which create or strengthen a dominant posi-

tion in a market. The authority is working closely with the parliament and government of Italy and it

is required to report and give consultancy services to them.

If malpractices occur the authority may impose penalty to the offenders. The amount of penalty,

depending on the seriousness of the offence, can be up to ten per cent of the gross turnover. If the

malpractices continue the authority can put down the company’s operations up to 30 days period. If

the company is not willing or its information to the authority is untruthful other fines are possible.

Companies also have to inform the authority about mergers and acquisitions before hand or other-

wise fines can be considered and the actions can set to be restored until further investigations.

Information about the competition laws, forms, new releases and publications can be found on the

Autorita’ Carante Della Conconrenza e Del Mercanto’s web site2. The authority also publishes annual

reports and the executive summary can be read in English. (Auorita’ Garante Della Concorrenza e Del

Mercato 2010.)

6. How to set up a company in Italy

Starting a business in Italy usually includes 6 procedures and can be handled within 10 days, which is

faster than the OECD average of 13 days. The ease of doing business in Italy is ranked 78 out of 183

according to the World Bank. The minimum capital required is significantly low in Italy. It is only at

9.7 % as a percentage of income per capita, in comparison to 15.5 % among OECD countries. How-

ever, the costs for establishing a business in Italy are higher (17.9 % income per capita as to an aver-

age of 4.7 %). In Italy closing a business is quite expensive (22 % of estate, more than double the

price of average (8.4 %)). (The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World

Bank 2009b.)

Requirements for a Company owned by a foreigner are:

Properly filled out documentations and notices in a local Italian Chamber of Commerce

The company is recorded in the Company Register the same way as Italian companies

2 http://www.agcm.it/eng/index.htm

31

Repertorio Economico-Amministrativo (REA) is joined by Sole Traders, representatives offices

and branches

(Invitalia 2009, 5-6.)

6.1. Commercial code/ legal framework

Italy´s legal framework is based on the Civil Code, whose body of the company law was reformed in

2003. The company´s structure chosen and the business activities determine the procedure to follow.

(Invitalia 2009, 6.)

Choices for the establishment of a business:

Setting up a business

Founding a business with more people

Taking over an existing business

6.1.1. Setting up a business

The Italian company law distinguishes between:

Partnership (shared liability with partners for the company)

- Simple and general partnership (unlimited liability of partners) – società in nome collet-

tivo – Snc

- Limited partnership (liability limited to the assets given) – società in accomandita sem-

plice – Sas

- Silent partners with limited liability to their capital contribution – soci acco-

mandanti

- General partners with joint liability – soci accomandatari

Cooperation (limited liability, free transferable ownership, separated obligations)

(Invitalia 2009, 7)

32

The alternatives forms for setting up a business can be:

Sole Proprietorship

The owner of the business or the entrepreneur is fully liable.

Branches

Branches are units of a foreign company operating in Italy which can either be considered as a sec-

ondary office or a proper branch.

General facts about branches:

Usually they are managed by a permanent company representative (called institore)

Are regarded as established companies by the taxation law (own bookkeeping, submit VAT

and income tax returns)

Institore must have an Italian tax ID number (codice fiscal)

Representative office

A representative office usually helps to gain knowledge of the Italian market, the competitors or to

promote the business in a new country.

A mere representative office, which is only involved in information gathering activities, is not a sub-

ject of taxation and therefore only imposes to:

Request a tax ID number (codice fiscal) with the jurisdiction of the office´s location

Register with the Commercial and Administrative Register (Repertorio Economico Adminis-

trativo – REA)

Representative offices engaged in non-commercial but in preparatory business for the company (e.g.

advertising, research, purchasing and storing goods, etc.) are considered as subject of taxation and

need to request a VAT number (codice fiscal) additionally.

(Invitalia 2009, 21-24 and Uhy International Ltd. 2009, 9.)

33

6.1.2. Founding a business with more people

The following business corporations with a legal personality can be established:

Stock Company (società per azioni - S.p.A.)

Partnership Limited by Shares (società in accomandita per azioni - Sapa)

Limited Liability Company (società a responsabilità limitata – S.r.l.)

European wide private limited liability company (societas privata europaea – SPE)

Each shareholder of a corporation is only liable to the contribution brought to the company.

After registration into the Business Register (usually done by a public notary) the corporation be-

comes a legal person.

Stock Company (società per azioni - S.p.A.)

Capital contribution by shareholders

Minimum share capital € 120,000

Drawing up a public record

Shares freely transferable

Yearly publication of annual financial statement

Partnership Limited by Shares (società in accomandita per azioni - Sapa)

Similar to stock and limited liability companies

But stakeholders are divided into two groups – limited and general partners

At least one member needs to have unlimited liability

Private Limited Liability Company (società a responsabilità limitata – S.r.l.)

Shares are represented as quotas

Minimum share capital € 10,000

Quotas can be restricted by the articles of incorporation

Yearly publication of annual financial statement

34

6.1.3. European wide private liability company (societas privata europaea – SPE)

To make it easier for companies to expand on a European level a new legal form of a private limited

liability company has been designed based on the EU laws and should enter into force on 1st July

2010. The Societas Privata Europaea (SPE), European Private Company, will set the same rules of law

related to the company form throughout Europe. It will regulate for example the corporate life and

the required information covered in the article of association i.e. increasing or reducing share capital,

adopting shareholder resolutions and the organization of the SPE’s management. However, matter

that is related to labour and tax law, accounting or contractual rights and obligations of the SPE, and

other areas not covered by the regulations of the EU fall under the same national laws as for private

limited liability companies. To ease business the member states have to offer an electronic possibility

to apply for an SPE.

Exists in all member states with the same management structure

Set up by an individual, a group or companies

Transformation to this legal form possible

Share capital has to be a minimum of 1 €

Shares may not be offered to public

(Europa 2008 and Commission of the European Communities 2008.)

(Invitalia 2009, 7-21 and Uhy International Ltd. 2009, 9-17.)

6.1.4. Taking over an existing business

An Italian business can be either taken over by purchasing the shares of the established business or

the business assets. This form of entering the market brings along various advantages, however, the

value of the business should always be examined before the sale is set. Information and data regard-

ing the company can easily be obtained with the help of the Chamber of Commerce.

When acquiring a business the notary forwards the contract to the Business Register. Further these

following needs to be taken into consideration:

New owner has to have all the necessary authorisations

A new VAT number is requested when taking over a business from a sole proprietorship

- Note: companies can continue to work with the VAT number of the business

35

Existing businesses are entered in the Business Register and information can be gathered from the

website3. The European Union Enterprise Europe Network can help to find partners, technology and

advice4. (European Commission 2008.)

6.2. Different forms of business (list)

The most common forms of businesses established by foreign investors in Italy are Stock Companies

(società per azioni - S.p.A.) and Private Limited Liability Companies (società a responsabilità limitata –

S.r.l.).

Form of business Italian legal name Abbreviation

General partnership Società in nome collettivo Snc

Limited partnership Società in accomandita semplice Sas

Partnership limited by shares Società in accomandita per azioni Sapa

Private Limited Liability Company Società a responsabilità limitata S.r.l.

Stock Company Società per azioni S.p.A.

European wide private limited

liability company

Societas Privata Europaea SPE

Figure 13: Different forms of business.

3 http://www.registroimprese.it/

4 http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

36

6.3. Selecting a business name

By selecting a business name the entrepreneur must take into consideration that the name is:

Not offensive

Not misleading to the business you are doing

Not the same or similar to a business name already registered

Not a trademark

Still available as a domain name

In Italy the government reserved domain names of regions, provinces, municipalities and their two-

letter abbreviations. They also retained these domain names translated into English and other lan-

guages. (Miotti 2007.) There are many companies providing domain name registration and the price

competition is high. A company can register as well a .eu domain5.

Regarding the business name the abbreviation of the chosen business form must be placed at the

end of the enterprise name. It is not allowed to indicate another business form than the one regis-

tered.

Employees at the Chamber of Commerce help determining if the chosen business name does not

include any sensitive words forbidden in Italy.

Entering and receiving the right to operate the business name into the Business Register does not

protect against counterfeits. To avoid future problems the availability of the business name has to

be checked carefully. Information about already registered company names can be found on the

website of the business register in Italy6. When European or global trade is included in the future

strategies of the company, applying for a trademark registration after starting the business is highly

recommended. More information regarding trade mark can be found in chapter 12.

5 http://www.eurid.eu/en/eu-domain-names

6 http://www.registroimprese.it/

37

6.4. Laws and Regulations for the forms of business

Every company founded in Italy requires a notification to the Business Register.

When establishing a limited liability company in Italy, the service of a notary public, who is familiar

with the procedures and drafts the memorandum and the articles of association, is required. The

notary public has a special legal validity in Italy and is usually a self-employed professional. The rates

for their services are set by the law and they belong to the civil law notaries. A directory and further

information about this profession are accessible on the website7. Information that has to be included

in the memorandum for the limited liability companies is available in appendix 3.

6.4.1. Stock Company (società per azioni - S.p.A.)

Founders of an S.p.A. company subscribe with portions of share capital to the company and enjoy

limited liability. Stock companies in Italy are also able to issue bonds, hybrid financial instruments

without voting rights and segregate the asset pool for special business deals. Since 2003 an S.p.A. can

also be established by a single shareholder.

Further laws and regulations:

Share capital has to be over € 120,000

- Multiple shareholders can pay 75 % of the deposit at a given point of time from the ad-

ministrative body

- Single shareholder has to pay up front

- The certificate of the deposit will be issued by the Italian bank and attached to the deed

of incorporation (Studio Internazionale Tornambè 2010.)

Usually the chairman and managing directors are entitled as legal representatives

In Italy an S.p.A company can choose from three different models of corporate management:

1) Traditional model

The most used corporate governance provides the greatest level of protection, as well separating the

management and control functions. The three components creating this structure are:

7 http://www.notariato.it/portal/site/notariato

38

Board of directors

Board of statutory auditors

Registered auditor/auditing firm

Board of Directors (Management Body - Organo di gestione)

Need to be individuals

Need to appoint one chairman

Simple majority resolution

Directors appointed by the stakeholders (exception for those appointed by the articles of in-

corporation) for a renewable three years term

Resolution of stakeholders can remove director(s)

Board meeting duly constituted if the majority of directors are present

Directors may not vote by proxy

Directors’ remuneration stated in the articles of association

Managing directors (direttori)

Members of the board of directors performing specific tasks

Can be assisted by general directors (direttori generali), whose responsibility is regarded the

same as the one from the director by the Civil Law

The following tasks cannot be delegated to the managing directors:

Preparing the financial statements

Increasing the share capital

Asking the court to reduce share capital

Calling a shareholders’ meeting in the case of losses higher than one-third of the share capi-

tal

Decide merger or de-merger projects

Board of statutory auditors (Management control body - Organo di controllo sulla gestione)

Made up by three to five effective members (sindaci) and two alternates the board of statutory audi-

tors (collegio sindacale) is obligatory for an S.p.A. It is prohibited that the members are employees or

directors or close relatives of directors. They cannot be statutory auditors for subsidiaries or other

39

company bodies. The main duty of this body is to control the management in respect of the law and

the articles of association.

Board members have to be qualified and competent to their duties

Remuneration determined in articles of association or general meeting of shareholders

Appointed for a three year period (no removal possible)

Meet every 90 days (telecommunication eligible)

Simple majority resolution

Registered auditor/auditing firm (Audit body - Organo di controllo contabile)

The accounting control is the main duty of the registered auditor or auditing company.

Appointed by the shareholders’ meeting (after the report of the board of statutory)

Remuneration determined by the shareholders’ meeting for the whole term

3 year term (with only one renewal possible)

2) Two level or dualistic model

The Board of Management (Consiglio di gestione) conducts the business and the control is being

done by the Board of Surveillance (Consiglio di sorveglianza), which is similar to the shareholder

meeting of an S.p.A. led by the traditional model (e.g. approval of the financial statement). The

shareholders appoint the members of the board. An auditing company or auditor supervises the ac-

counts.

3) One level or monistic model

Here the Board of Directors (Consiglio di Amministrazione) is conducting the business and is ap-

pointed by the shareholders. The controlling force is the Management Control Committee (Comitato

per il controllo sulla gestione), assigned within the Board of Directors. Also here an auditing company

or auditor supervises the accounts.

(Invitalia 2009, 7-14 and Uhy International Ltd. 2009, 10-13.)

40

6.4.2. Private Limited Liability Company (società a responsabilità limitata – S.r.l.)

Other than with an S.p.A., founders of a private limited liability company can subscribe for a quota of

the share capital. Since 2003 an S.r.l. can also be founded by a single shareholder. The S.r.l. company

is only able to apply the traditional model of corporate governance. General laws and regulations for

an S.r.l. are:

Share capital has to be over € 10,000

- Multiple shareholders – 75 % of payment made in cash can be paid at a given point from

the administrative body

- Single shareholder has to pay up front

- Contribution with value of services possible

- The certificate of the deposit will be issued by the Italian bank and attached to the Deed

of incorporation (Studio Internazionale Tornambè 2010.)

Shareholder meetings

- Less formal

- Absolute majority for resolutions

- Duly constituted with at least half of the share capital present

- Quota holders have the right to vote for:

- Approval of the financial statements

- Appointment of directors

- Appointment of statutory auditors or an auditor

- Changes to the articles of association

- Material change in the company’s purpose

Minutes done by the notary public only if changes to the article of associations

Management body

- One or more shareholders

- Chosen by the shareholders themselves for an undefined time

Control body only mandatory if:

- Capital is greater than or equal to € 120,000

- At least two of the following limits are exceeded in two financial years in a row:

- Total assets of € 4,400,000

- Revenues from sales and services of € 8,800,000

- An average of 50 employees during the year

(Invitalia 2009, 14-17 and Uhy International Ltd. 2009, 14-15)

41

6.5. Formation Procedures

When setting up business the knowledge of the language is essential. All the forms needed to be

filled are in Italian and therefore it is recommended to have a business advisor to help the process.

(Welsh Assembly Government 2010.)

With the aim of the European Union to decrease the red tape one-stop shops have been designed to

ease formalities for setting up a business. They are called Sportello Unico and can be found in every

municipality. (Business-in-Europe.)

The single notification, introduced in Italy in 2007, has as well the goal to simplify the establishment

of a business by applying online to the Business Register with one notification including all informa-

tion for the tax identification number, VAT number, and registration with Social Security Administra-

tion (INPS) and Accident Insurance Office (INAIL). Although it is not mandatory for every municipal

yet, Padua and Rome have already shown a significant improvement of faster business registration.

(The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank 2009, 3.)

Most documentation to be filed out for the chamber of commerce can only be done online and re-

quires a digital signature. The signature can be done with a smart card ordered from the Italian gov-

ernment or by contacting professional service providers like notary public or accountants who pos-

sess the smart card. (Invitalia 2009, 6.)

The software recommended to send electronic files to the Business Register is a web-based system

allowing safe e-mailing (Telemaco), enabling the filling of applications (Fedra), and for signing and

checking one or more signatures in any file (Dike) and can be downloaded from the website of the

Chamber of Commerce Italy8.

All founding shareholders of a limited liability company have to be present or be represented by

someone with the power of attorney at the time of founding the company for the signing of the

memorandum and articles of association with the notary public. (Invitalia 2009, 17-18.)

6.6. Registration requirements

The costs of registration are around € 4,592 in Italy (The International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development, The World Bank 2009b, 55).

8 http:/www.chamberofcommerce.it/

42

The registration process for the Business Register depends on the type of business organisation cho-

sen, however in general it is required (Invitalia 2009 and European Business):

For some professions to have an administrative permit or a license to start business

Professions in the food and drink industry and which involve activities in tourism are entered

in the Traders Register (Registro degli Esercenti il Commercio) at the Chamber of Commerce

(European Information Centre Vilnius)

Apply for a value added tax (VAT – imposta sul valore aggiunto/IVA) number (codice fiscale)

at the Italian Revenue Agency or at the Italian consulate in another country (no online possi-

bility)

Contact the Chamber of Commerce (camera di commercio) in the province were the business

will be operating and register at the Business Register (registro delle imprese) and the Na-

tional Social Security Institute (Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale/INPS) within 30 days af-

ter the start of the business

At the beginning of the business the Business Register has to be informed with a copy of the

start-of-business notice (denuncia di inizio attività, filled at the Chamber of Commerce) and if

needed the administrative permit or license

Businesses including a higher risk of incurring work-related accidents have to register with

the Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL)

6.6.1. Establishing a limited liability company

For the process of establishing a limited liability company these steps have to be taken into consid-

eration (Invitalia 2009, 17-21):

Contact notary public and draft together the memorandum and articles of association

Establish company´s share capital (deposit at a temporary Italian bank account)

If assets or services are being contributed to the share capital it needs approval of an expert

(sworn report)

The notary public has 20 days to fully register the company with the Business Register

Fully established the deposit can be put into the final account

43

6.6.2. Establishing a branch

The case of establishing a branch requires the following procedures (Invitalia 2009, 22-23):

Authenticated copy of the memorandum and the articles of association of the head company

by the notary public of the country of origin

Legalise the copy by the Italian consulate or other diplomatic authority or provide with an

apostille (issued by a competent public authority, simpler than legislation)

Translate copy into Italian, if necessary

A declaring certificate that the company is an existing business with validity to the law of the

origin country issued by a competent body in the company’s country (e.g. the chamber of

commerce, Business Register, etc.)

- Name the representative of the branch

- Including a sworn translation into Italian, certified by the Italian court or an Italian em-

bassy in the company´s country of origin

Copy of the document stating the intention to open a branch in Italy (the form of the docu-

ment depends on the legal system in the country of origin)

- Indicate the address of the branch

File the document by an Italian notary public

Complete forms requested by the Chamber of Commerce (depending if you open a secon-

dary office or branch)

6.7. Accounting

A company that operates in Italy needs to keep accounts on the following issues:

Every good/service delivered (issuing receipt for fiscal purposes)

Every good/service bought

Register of invoices

(Your Europe 2010.)

The accounting books that the Italian law requires to keep are:

General ledger

VAT sales register

VAT purchases register

44

Depreciable assets

(UHY International Ltd. 2009, 29.)

It depends on the statutory structure of the enterprise how the specific procedure of registration of

invoices proceeds. For sole proprietorships, it’s allowed to keep simplified accounting. The European

Standards and Italian regulations must be followed by the companies in bookkeeping. The accounts

have to be held safe for the next 10 years in the fiscal domicile, in case of inspection by the Guardia

di Finanza, the financial police forces. (Your Europe 2010.)

The annual financial statements must be prepared in the end of the accounting period, which has

been defined by the company at the start of business. The financial statements must contain balance

sheet, profit and loss account and explanatory notes. The format of the annual financial statements

must be compatible with the regulations of the Italian Civil Code. (UHY International Ltd. 2009, 27-

28.)

The company can prepare condensed annual financial statements if it hasn’t exceeded two of the

following requirements in the first year, or the two consecutive years:

€ 3,650,000 of total assets in balance sheet

€ 7,300,000 of revenues from sales and services

50 employees as a average of the during year

(UHY International Ltd. 2009, 27-28.)

Requirements of accounting in Italy have been written in the Italian Civil Code. The complex rules of

accounting have been changing constantly and that’s why it has been suggested that the accounting

is done by a professional who is part of professional accountants’ body recognized by the Ministry of

Justice. The list of these authorized accountants can be found through International Federation of

Accountants9. (Your Europe 2010.)

6.8. Auditing

In Italy auditing has two purposes:

Controlling accounting

Controlling the management and corporate monitoring

9 http://www.ifac.org/

45

(UHY International Ltd. 2009, 29.)

Auditing can be done either by authorized auditor/auditing firm or by a board of statutorily audi-

tors or a combination of these options. However, the companies that have to perform a full annual

financial statement have to use registered auditor/auditing firm at least for the controlling of the

accounting. The National Commission for Companies & Stock Exchange (CONSOB) has registered a

special class of auditing firms that has to be used while auditing listed companies, state‐controlled

companies, municipality‐controlled companies, large consortia, insurance companies, brokers, (secu-

rities traders) and publishing companies10. (Financial Standards Foundation 2010.)

An auditor completes two reports; accounting controls and management controls. The accounting

control report is presented in international accounting control form and management control report

is presented in form used by national accounting bodies. Auditors are responsible for the truthful-

ness and accuracy of their statements. They need to be independent and they can be charged if it is

shown that mistakes were made due to lack of their professionalism. (Financial Standards Founda-

tion 2010.)

Selecting an Auditor

An auditor needs to be liable and objective.

Company form Account Control Management Control &

Corporate Surveillance

Sole proprietorship board of statutorily auditors board of statutorily auditors

Small Ltd. (no requirement of

full annual financial state-

ments)

board of statutorily auditors board of statutorily auditors

Ltd. (full annual financial

statements)

registered auditor/auditing firm board of statutorily auditors

Public company CONSOB special class registered

auditing firm

board of statutorily auditors

Figure 14: Minimum auditor requirements in Italy (UHY International Ltd. 2009, 29.)

10

http://www.consob.it/

46

6.9. Business support

The EU and the state of Italy itself provide a variety of support for businesses. Entrepreneurs find

besides personalised support also incentives for setting up a business or promoting entrepreneur-

ship.

6.9.1. At the European Union level

European portal for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)

A useful new website providing all relevant information, important links and services regarding EU

topics for SMEs - in 21 different languages11 (European Commission 2009).

Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)

Launched in 2008, it brings together business support organisations from 45 countries. Their aim is to

support the European Single Market and to enable small businesses to make the most out of the

various business opportunities in the EU. They are connected through powerful databases and know

Europe inside out. What's more, they have been working together for years, some even for decades.

Local network branches act as one-stop-shops and are able to assist on topics like cross-border activi-

ties, innovation and technology transfer, access to finance, research funding, EU law and standards,

intellectual property and programmes and business cooperation12. Your local EEN is at the Helsinki

Region Chamber of Commerce. (European Commission 2009 and Enterprise Europe Network 2010.)

European Business Test Panel

As some laws and regulations have particular impact on specific businesses this panel offers the pos-

sibility to comment directly and individually by filling out a questionnaire - available in all official lan-

guages. This voluntary action can be taken 8 times a year, guaranteeing that only relevant issues are

being commented by the businesses13. (European Commission 2009.)

11

http://ec.europa.eu/small-business/index_en.htm

12 http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

13 http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ebtp/index_en.htm

47

Solvit

Problems encountered with public authorities applying the Internal Market law of the EU wrongly are

solved with the help of local offices of Solvit in the Member States and the body of the European

Commission itself. Helping consumer and businesses Solvit tackles issues like: market access for

products; provision of services; going self-employed; public contracts; tax or VAT reimbursements

and border controls. This service guarantees a solution within ten days14. (European Commission

2009.)

FIN-Net

Since 2001 the FIN-Net network helps to solve financial disputes between consumers and financial

services providers (i.e. banks, insurance companies, investment firms and other). The provision of

easy access to out-of-court complaint procedures in cross-border cases is their main goal.15

European associations such as BUSINESSEUROPE16, the confederation of European business, and the

European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME)17 are recognised as

European social partners and represent the company´s interest before and in European institutions.

6.9.2. National level

Chamber of commerce

La camera di commercio d´Italia can be found in every region and is the official contact point for

SMEs covering matters like setting up a business, registering, advising and financial support.

Impresa.gov

This website provides businesses with online information and services published by local and na-

tional public authorities. Covering quite useful topics it is unfortunately only available in Italian.

14

http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/site/index_en.htm

15 http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/fin-net/index_en.htm

16 http://www.businesseurope.eu/Content/Default.asp

17 http://www.ueapme.com/

48

Financial access

The websites of Unicredit Banca18 and Contributi19 cover issues as loans, grants and other relevant

financial information, especially concentrating on SMEs. However both of them are in Italian only.

Becoming a member of a national entrepreneurial association can as well offer access to a wide

range of information. The leading associations representing the craft and SME sector in Italy are:

Confesercenti20, Confartigianato21, Confapi22, CNA23 and Confindustria24.

7. Labour law and regulations

7.1. General information on EU labour law

EU Labour law is a body of legislation that defines employers and workers rights and obligations in

the workplace.

At Community level, labour law covers two main areas:

Working conditions, including working time, part-time and fixed-term work, and posting of

workers

Information and consultation of workers, including in the event of collective redundancies

and transfers of undertakings

The role of the European Community (EC) is to support and complement the activities of the Member

States in the area of social policy, in line with the provisions of the EC Treaty (Art. 136-139).

To this aim, the EC adopts legislation defining minimum requirements at EU level in the fields of

working and employment conditions and the information and consultation of workers. The Member

18

http://www.unicreditbanca.it/it/legge488/

19 http://www.contributi.it/index.php

20 http://www.confesercenti.it/en/index.php

21 http://www.confartigianato.it/

22 http://www.confapi.org/

23 http://www.cna.it/

24 http://www.confindustria.it/

49

States then transpose the Community law into their national law and implement it, guaranteeing a

similar level of protection of your rights and obligations throughout the EU.

Labour law also has a key role in ensuring that a high level of employment and sustained economic

growth is accompanied by continuous improvement of the living and working conditions throughout

the European Union. The main areas of the EC labour legislation are:

Health and safety at work

Equality between women and men

Anti-discrimination

Free movement of workers

Social security coordination

On national level it is on the responsibility of courts and national authorities to enforce the national

transposition measures. The EU is in charge of monitoring the transposition process. Disputes be-

tween member states and the EU are settled by The European Court of Justice. (European Commis-

sion 2010.)

The main points regulated by the EU labour law are:

Individual working conditions

Fixed-term work

Part-time work

Temporary agency workers

Health and Safety in Fixed- term and Temporary employment

Young people at work

Working time directive

(European Commission 2010c.)

7.2. Individual working conditions

The EU defines minimum requirements at European level and the requirements have to be imple-

mented on national level. An EU Directive has been created to obligate the employers to inform em-

ployees on the essential elements of his working contract or employment relationship.

50

Several elements regarding the job have to be specified in a working contract:

Description of the work

Working times

Leave entitlements

Arrangements for either side to give notice

General conditions of work

Also, if the worker is required to work in another country all elements regarding different conditions

have to be specified in the contract (e.g. currency of payment and duration of working period

abroad). (European Commission 2010b.)

7.3. Italian labour legislation

The foundations of Italian labour policy (excerpts):

Article 1 Form of State

Italy is a democratic republic based on labour

Article 4 Work

The republic recognizes the right of all citizens to work and promote conditions to fulfil this

right.

According to capability and choice, every citizen has the duty to undertake an activity or a

function that will contribute to the material and moral progress of society.

Article 35 Labour

The republic protects labour in all its forms.

It provides for the training and professional enhancement of workers.

It promotes and encourages international treaties and institutions aiming to assert and regu-

late labour rights.

It recognizes the freedom to emigrate, except for legal limitations for the common good, and

protects Italian labour abroad.

(The Constitution of Italy 2003.)

51

7.3.1. Contract of Employment and Worker’s Rights

The main types of working contracts in Italy are:

Apprenticeships

Part-time solidarity contracts

“Work-training” contracts

Fixed-term contract

Domestic work

Generally speaking, all contracts are considered indefinite except in cases specified by the law. Fixed

term contracts are permitted as long as it is based on legal grounds. Seasonal work and replacement

of employees on sickness or maternity leave are good examples of reasonable causes for fixed-term

contract. Fixed-term contracts are set to end automatically at the end of the specific duration or

completion of the specified task.

In indefinite contracts, both parties (employer and employee) are allowed to terminate the contract

but have to respect the notice period. However, the employer has to provide the worker with a justi-

fied cause. On the other hand, the employee does not have to present any kind of cause to terminate

the contract. Termination without grounds is permitted only during trial period. Also domestic work-

ers, employees who have reached retirement age and directors can be dismissed without grounds.

Termination based on race, political opinions etc. are strictly prohibited. Also, members of worker’s

committees are entitled to immunity from termination for the following one year period after the

cessation of their duties in the committee.

If the worker is dismissed illegally, remedies vary depending on the size of the company. Generally

speaking, the employer is required to offer remuneration and ask the employee to return to work.

The worker is entitled to refuse and require a remedy equal to 15 months’ pay. In companies with

15-60 employees, the worker is no right to reinstatement, but is entitled to compensation ranging

from 2.5 to 6 times the monthly pay. (ILO 2010.)

52

7.3.2. Hours of work

The normal weekly working time is determined in the collective agreements. Normally, there are 40

working hours per day and a maximum of 48 hours of work per week on a reference period of 4

months. Generally speaking, all work in excess of 40 hours a week is overtime. Different overtime

limits can be fixed by collective agreements. In general, overtime should be occasional and caused by

reasons that hiring new workers cannot eliminate. For part-time work, the distribution of working

hours is determined in a separate contract and cannot be modified by the employer without em-

ployer’s consent or if there is an increase in the hourly salary. (Invitalia 2010.)

Overtime must be compensated with no less than 10 per cent increase over the regular rate. How-

ever, it has happened that Italian courts have ruled that the overtime provision applies to all the re-

muneration the employee gets from the employer (e.g. living cost bonus, allowances for night and

shift work). Thus in practice, the overtime salary can rise up to 30 per cent above the basic pay. (ILO

2010.)

7.3.3. Paid Leaves

All workers in Italy have the right to rest at least on one day a week. Italian law recognizes four na-

tional holidays. On these days workers are entitled to get normal pay. If they have to work, they get

double the normal salary. Collective agreements determine the yearly paid holiday period which is 4

weeks minimum. Senior workers may also be entitled to additional holidays. During their holiday,

workers get their normal salary excluding only indemnities related to their work. Generally speaking,

employees get to choose the exact time frame of their holiday unless it is not incompatible with the

company’s activities. (ILO 2010.)

7.3.4. Maternity leave

Female workers have right to special protection in case of pregnancy. The female employee cannot

be dismissed from beginning of the pregnancy until one year after the child’s birth. Maternity leave is

compulsory from two months before and three months after the childbirth.

The mother is entitled to get 80 % of the normal salary from the social security during the compul-

sory maternity leave. Collective agreements usually stipulate the worker to make up the gap be-

53

tween the normal salary and the maternity leave benefit. Also, time spent on maternity leave counts

as actual work time. (ILO 2010.)

7.4. Italy labour market

7.4.1. General information

In the 1990’s labour force participation and employment grew drastically in Italy. The cumulative

labour force growth was almost twice the labour force resulting in fairly low unemployment rates in

the mid-2000. This is the result of several reform programmes performed in 1997 and 2003. Most

jobs created in the 1990’s were part-time or temporary work. In absolute terms, the number of tem-

porary based workers doubled between years 1995-2007, whereas during the same period perma-

nent employment increased only 7 %. A similar gap can be seen between part-time and full-time

working as part-time working grew by 65 % and full-time working reached only a moderate 9 % cu-

mulative growth. (Schindler, M. 2009, 4.)

In 2009, Italy’s unemployment rate was 7.8 % of total population. It comprises people be-

tween 15-74 years of age.

In EU-27, the total unemployment rate was 8.9 % so Italy is doing a little better than EU on

average.

If shared into sex-based categories, we can see that men’s unemployment rate in Italy was

6.8 % and women’s 9.3 %. Male unemployment rate is significantly above the EU-27 average

whereas female unemployment rate is below the average. (Eurostat 2010c.)

7.4.2. Wages

According to Italian constitution workers are entitled to get a pay for the work they have performed.

The Italian law does not define any minimum wage but it is standard procedure to refer to national

collective labour laws when establishing a minimum wage. These laws also cover workers who are

not members of any union.

Gross salary composes of all factors contributing to the worker’s salary. Social security payments are

compulsory as they are payable by law and consist of worker-paid part and employer-paid part.

54

Some factors are not subject to taxes, for example: family allowances, student grants and nursery

schools. (EURES 2010.)

Factors contributing to employee’s salary:

Basic pay or minimum wage tariff consisting of the remuneration of the person’s job

Cost of living allowance to adjust the salary with inflation

Wage supplement

Seniority increase

Additional bonuses based on, for example, person’s professional skills

(EURES 2010.)

7.4.3. Social Security

In general, one has to be employed before being accepted to the social welfare system. When the

employee starts working deductions are then made from the salary and they will be paid in by the

employer. The national social security system is called INPS (Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza So-

ciale). It is responsible for social security and welfare benefits. Social security benefits are granted on

the basis of compulsory insurance payments and they are funded by the collection of contributions.

Welfare benefits in Italy are designed to support income in case of unemployment, sickness or ma-

ternity.

To register with the social welfare system, the employee has to deliver all the required documents

issued and filled in by the employer. The worker’s contributions are deducted from the gross pay.

Those who are self employed must pay contributions to a separate social security fund.

Italian law obliges employers to ensure workers against occupational diseases and hazards. This is

normally handled by the National Institute for Insurance against Occupational Accidents and Diseases

(INAIL). (EURES 2010.)

7.4.4. Market development and conditions

According to the Italian Statistics Institute (ISTAT) 22.9 million Italians were employed at the end of

2009. This gives Italy an employment rate of 57.1 %. The unemployment rate in February 2010 was

8.5 % with 1.2 percentage points of growth compared to February 2009. It is though still below the

55

EU average. Youth employment in Italy remained very high at 28.2 % in February 2010 and it is

clearly above the EU average. Male unemployment has been hit harder than female unemployment,

which has declined since December 2009.

Unemployment has augmented especially in the Centre-North part of the country. The amount of

self-employed and temporary workers has gone down with permanent workers especially in small

businesses.

The hours worked by temporary workers were down 5.6 % in January 2010 compared to last year.

Also, there is a decline in employers’ hiring expectations in the second quarter of 2010 as the labour

input is predicted to go down. (Monthly Monitor 2010.)

8. Taxation

8.1. Corporate Income Tax (Imposta sul Reddito delle Società - IRES)

Since 2009 the standard rate for the Italian corporate tax is at 27.5 %. It is regulated by the stan-

dardization law, the Testo Unico delle Imposte sui Redditi (CTC) and is paid twice a year. This direct

tax applies to a company’s income from any source. For Italian resident companies, their worldwide

revenues serve as basis and non-Italian based companies have to pay IRES on the revenues made in

Italy. (European Commission 2008.)

For tax purposes, the following forms of corporation are considered resident in Italy:

Società per Azioni (S.p.A.)

Società a responsabilità limitata (S.r.l.)

Società in accomandita per azioni (Sapa)

Foreign companies with their headquarters or main activities in Italian territory for the majority of

the tax period are also considered Italian residents (Invitalia 2009b).

An additional 5.5 % corporate income tax charge is due for companies if their revenues in the rele-

vant fiscal period are higher than 25 Million Euros AND if they are operating in one of the following

fields:

Research and exploitation of hydrocarbon

Oil refining, production and sale of petrol, gasoline, gas, lubricating oil

Liquefied gas of patrol and natural gas

56

Production and sale of electricity (PKF International Limited 2009)

Partnerships (società in nome collettivo, società in accomandita semplice) are not subject to IRES but

usually to the personal income tax (IRPEF). Since the 2008 tax period, partners may, however, choose

to tax such income at 27.50 %, which is the same rate as the corporate income tax. For further in-

formation please check the Invitalia website25.

8.2. Regional Corporate Tax (Imposta Regionale sulle Attività Produttive - IRAP)

Resident and non-resident companies pay IRAP based on income made in Italy:

3.9 % ± 1.0 % (regulated by regional authorities)

Will be gradually eliminated in near future (Petsch Frosch Klein Arturo Rechtsanwälte 2010,

5.)

8.3. Filing tax returns (IRES and IRAP)

Must be filed within 7 months of statutory year end (calendar year or fiscal year)

Electronic transmission (F24 form)

8.4. Value Added Tax (Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto - IVA)

The EU value added tax-code is fully applied in Italy. The IVA is carried by consumers; in earlier stages

suppliers deduct input IVA. It applies to all products and services produced in the Italian territory.

(Stanley St Labs 2009.)

Standard rate (IVA): 20 %

Other rates: 4 % and 10 % for basic products and services like restaurant and catering ser-

vices, books, hairdressing etc. (complete list on European Commission’s Web Site26)

IVA is to be paid once a month or quarterly

25

http://www.invitalia.it/on-line/eng/Home/BusinessEnvironment.html

26 http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/key_documents/legislation_recently_adopted/

index_en.htm

57

Annual return is filed once a year, March 15th

Electronic transmission (F24 form)

More information about Italy’s tax system and all necessary online forms can be found on the home-

page of Agenzia delle Entrate27. and Invitalia28.

8.5. Personal income tax

In Italy, the taxation for individual’s income is progressive. It means that the higher the income is,

the higher the rate of tax payable is.

Individual tax and additional taxation (in 2009):

Individual tax rate between 23 % and 43 %

Regional tax of 0.9 % to 1.4 %

Municipal tax of 0.1 % to 0.8 %

An individual in Italy is responsible for taxing ones income as an employee and ones income as a self-

employed person. The tax must be paid on income earned in Italy and overseas by an individual who

meets the requirement of a "permanent resident" of Italy. A foreign resident who is employed in Italy

pays tax only on income earned in Italy.

Italy individual income tax rates 2009

Figure 15: Individual income tax rates (World Tax Inc 2009).

27

http://www.agenziaentrate.it/ilwwcm/connect/Nsi/

28 http://www.invitalia.it/on-line/eng/Home.html

Tax (%) Tax Base (EUR)

23% 0 - 15,000

27% 15,001-28,000

38% 28,001-55,000

41% 55,001-75,000

43% 75,001 and over

58

8.6. Italy reporting dates and payment of the taxes

In Italy the tax year ends on December 31st. The payments of taxes are made on the following basis:

An individual whose only income is from a salary is not obligated to file an annual tax return.

The employer deducts the tax from the employee and transfers the payment immediately to

the tax authorities on a monthly basis.

A self-employed individual is obliged to pay 100 % of the tax forecast for a year, or an

amount that is the equivalent of 98 % of the tax paid in the previous year. The pre-payment

is made in two instalments:

- 40 % of the total are paid by June 20th

- The remaining 60 % are paid on November 30th

- The date for filing an annual return for an individual is July 31st

A limited company must submit the financial statements within 30 days of the date of ap-

proval.

Before the date of approval of the statements, the company must pay the amount of tax

due for the previous year and in additional 40 % of the tax forecast for the current year.

(World Tax Inc 2009.)

8.7. Excise duty

Excise duty or taxes concern certain commodities, usually "luxury" goods. The excise tax is normally

assessed against tobacco products, perfumes and alcohol products but can include other goods as

determined by Italian regulations. (FedEx 2010.)

8.8. Real estate / Land tax

In Italy, there are two local property taxes, which are based on the property's theoretical rental value

according to the local land registry and are adjusted in line with inflation. The rate of tax can vary due

to the tax imposed by the regional and local governments:

59

Imposto municipale or Imposta Comunale sugli Immobili (ICI)

The local municipal property tax (ICI) is paid by every owner of property or land in Italy. The amount

of the tax is calculated referring to the rendita catastrale (official value of the property). The rate’s

value is around 0.4 % - 0.7 % of the value of the property. If a property does not fit for habitation it

could be qualify for a 50 % reduction.

Tassas Comunales

Some Municipalities raise additional taxation for the services that they supply to the resident of the

area (rubbish collection, cleaning of the streets, etc.). Municipalities have the right to raise a charge

for the use of a vehicle in their area and it varies between €200 and €250 per year. (Properties in

Europe 2005.)

9. Banking System & National Bank

The central bank of Italy Banca D’Italia29 is part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and

the Eurosystem. Banca D’Italia is a public-law institution and it aims at fulfilling the monetary and

financial goals set by the European Union. It is an independent bank following the Italian law. (Banca

D´Italia 2010.)

9.1. Local currency & monetary issue

The currency in Italy is the Euro. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the national bank in Italy

Banca D’Italia control monetary issues. Banca D’Italia participates in decision making and the imple-

mentation of the monetary policy. The main objective of European Union monetary policy is price

stability. The ECB provides official statements and regular publications such as monthly bulletin and

annual report that can be found from the web site of the European Central Bank30. (Banca D´Italia

2010.)

29

www.bancaditalia.it/bancaditalia

30 http://www.ecb.int/stats/html/index.en.html

60

9.2. Payment systems

European Central Bank and national banks in the European Union are promoting smooth operations

in the payment systems. Banca D’Italia together with the banking community is developing efficient

and reliable payment systems. The aim is to have common procedures and harmonize the legal

framework for the European Union payment system. Banca D’Italia together with the central banks

of France and Germany has developed a new European payment system - TARGET2:

No differences in handling of national and cross-border payments

Harmonized legal framework

Common technical features

9.3. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

Paying with euro banknotes and coins everywhere in the euro area has been easy since 2002. How-

ever non-cash payments have continued to be expensive and complicated. In 2001 the European

Union adopted a law to ease payments. Banks have to charge the same fees in both national and

cross-border payments. Banks created the European Payment Council (EPC) to be in charge of the

SEPA project. The aims of SEPA:

Have one pan-European payment market

Quick and uncomplicated payments everywhere in the Euro area

Europe as one payment area at the end of 2010

In 2008 the SEPA credit transfer was launched which includes harmonized electronic payment in-

struments (credit transfers, direct debits and cards) in the Euro Area.

Within the SEPA area all the payments are treated as national payments. Individuals and companies

can make receive payments in Euros via the same bank account as easily as national payments. SEPA

will increase competitiveness in the European economy and forward new innovations. Notice:

For SEPA transfer IBAN and BIC numbers are needed

Italy is using IBAN numbers as only identification

Execution time of transfer is at most 3 days

New payment cards are issued that can be used in Italy and in the other countries in Europe.

61

10. Consumer Affairs

The EU is committed to improving the quality of life of its citizens and also SMEs. As the single market

and the single currency open trading borders and the use of the internet and electronic commerce

grows it is important that citizens benefit from the same high level of consumer protection.

Consumer Policy promotes the interests, health and safety of European consumers with the help of

the directorate for Health and Consumers31. The aim of the EU is designed to ensure that the inter-

nal market is open, fair and transparent, allowing consumers to exercise real choice and to helping

consumers and businesses take full advantage of the market’s potential.

Increased Consumer confidence makes good Business sense.

The EU´s new consumer protection programme for the period 2007-2013 has two main objectives:

To ensure a high level of consumer protection, notably through improved evidence, better

consultation and better representation of consumers’ interests

To ensure the effective application of consumer protection rules, notably through enforce-

ment

In December 2007, the EU banned a series of unfair commercial practices32. They include misleading

advertising and aggressive selling practices like harassment, coercion and using undue influence. The

new directive gives consumers but also SMEs the same protection from sharp business practices and

rogue traders whether they buy from the shop around the corner or from a website in another EU

country. (European Commission 2009d.)

Standardization and standards play an important role in SME daily activities as their prod-

ucts/services may need to comply with standards for legal and/or market reasons. The implementa-

tion of standards can be beneficial for SMEs if standards are:

Market driven

Fit for their business model

Not used to make them go out of business by larger stakeholders

Not developed by certifiers and/or consultants as business support means

31

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm

32 http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/ucp_en.pdf

62

The European office for crafts, trades and SMEs for standardisation (NORMAPME)33 is a representa-

tive in standardisation changes, offers current information and sometimes intervenes in alternations

by the standardisation bodies for the benefit of SMEs. Also the Enterprise Europe Network34 offers

information on standardisation and changes in the regulations. (Normapme 2010.)

10.1. Consumer protection and support at EU level

ECC-Net

The European Consumer Centres Network35 helps consumers to solve problems occurred with busi-

nesses when shopping across the borders within the EU, including Norway and Iceland. Having a local

office in each member state it also provides information for the consumers on national and European

consumer protection rules. In 2008 72 % of complains at the ECC-Net were addressed to the sectors

transport services, recreational and cultural services, and restaurant, hotel and accommodation ser-

vices. (European Commission 2009 and ECC-Net 2009.)

Links to the consumer associations in Italy can be found on the national website of European Con-

sumer Centres Network36 and under useful addresses at the end of the report.

FIN-NET

The financial dispute resolution network37 within the European Economic Area helps consumers to

find out-of-court solutions in cross-border cases with financial providers, i.e. banks, insurance and

investment companies and others.

33

http://www.normapme.com/english/standatabase.htm

34 http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

35 http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/

36 http://www.ecc-net.it/

37 http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/fin-net/index_en.htm

63

10.2. Consumer Protection and support in Italy

As a member state of the EU, Italy is bound by the consumer protection directive of the EU. Domestic

laws are influenced by EU law. Consumer Protection issues are dealt with when complaints are made

to the institutions and unions.

National council of consumers and users

The nationwide consumers´ and users´ association (CNCU)38 is part of the Ministry of Economic De-

velopment and aims to improve and strengthen the consumer’s position. 16 recognised associations

are part of this council and promote the consumer and user rights. The following topics are covered

by the council:

Consumerism

Liberalization of public services

Food processing

Product safety and quality

Environmental and health protection

Credit system and financial services

Insurances

Relationship with the Regions

International relations

Access to legal system

Corporate social responsibility

National consumer union

The national association for consumer protection39 has 30 offices throughout the country and offers

information to raise the consumer awareness and defend the consumer right. It also provides an

online advice service.

Adoc.org

The national association for consumer defence and orientation40 offers current information to con-

sumer issues in different subjects.

38

www.tuttoconsumatori.it/eng_fra.html

39 www.consumatori.it

64

Non-governmental consumer protection associations, like for example Adiconsum41, Confconsuma-

tori42, ADUC43 and others, provide additionally useful information.

11. Market Development and market conditions for SMEs

11.1. Overall view of SMEs in Italy

In Italy, nearly 40 % of people are self-employed and this probably explains the substantially high

number of SMEs in Italy. The total number of enterprises is one of the highest in the EU with some 65

small and medium size enterprises per 1,000 inhabitants while the EU average is around 40. (Euro-

pean Commission 2008.)

The total amount of SMEs in 2007 was 3,902,731 and most of the companies were micro firms with

less than 9 employees (94.4 %), small companies were 5.0 % and medium companies 0.5 % of total.

This means that 99.9 % of all companies were SMEs. Figure 16 shows the precise distribution and

how the enterprises are divided between various business sectors. (OECD Stat Extracts 2010b.)

Business sector

Micro Medium Large

1-9 10-19 20-49 50-250 250 + Total

Mining and quarrying 2 432 609 278 58 3 3 380

Manufacturing 422 373 52 347 24 745 10 062 1 408 510 935

Electricity, gas and water supply 2 384 185 218 163 66 3 016

Construction 581 939 25 202 7 105 1 531 85 615 862

Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor

vehicles/cycles, personal and h/hold goods 1 203 816 26 953 8 713 2 791 439 1 242 712

Hotels and restaurants 256 652 13 392 2 790 744 109 273 687

Transport,storage and communications 139 805 7 585 3 600 1 728 349 153 067

Real estate, renting and business activities 1 079 287 14 653 5 662 2 929 645 1 103 176

Total 3 688 688 140 926 53 111 20 006 3 104 3 905 835

Enterprises in Italy 2007

Small

Size of enterprise

Table 16: Enterprises in Italy 2007 by size and business sector (OEDC Stat Extracts 2010b).

SMEs in Italy employed 81.3 % of all persons in work in enterprises while the equivalent number in

the EU was 67.1 % (European Commission 2008).

40

http://www.adoc.org/

41 http://www.adiconsum.it

42 http://www.confconsumatori.com/

43 http://www.aduc.it/

65

The value added percentage of Italian SMEs was also higher than EU average of 57.9 %, while it was

70.9 % in Italy. This means that the impact of SMEs in Italy on the economy is very significant. (Euro-

pean Commission 2008.)

Figure 17: Number of persons employed and value added of enterprises in Italy 2004/2005 (Euro-

pean Commission 2008).

Women’s share of the SME entrepreneurs is only around 3 %, more than 1 % lower than the EU av-

erage (European Commission 2008).

However, SMEs do not seem to internationalize, but this is not a new phenomenon as it has been low

throughout its history (European Commission 2008).

11.2. SMEs financial schemes

11.2.1. State aid

The Commission encourages member states to target investment to SMEs in order to create more

jobs and increase competitiveness. The “de minimise regulation” allows member states to grant

state aid to SMEs very rapidly without notification to the Commission and without administrative

procedure. Regulation specifies that the amount of aid can be up to € 200,000 per company over 3

fiscal years.

The European Union is granting indirect aid to the SME’s by:

Reduction of the taxation of labour and social costs

Number of persons employed Value added (MEUR)

Value % Value %

Micro 7 066 111 47,1 % 188 012 31,8 %

Small 3 257 900 21,7 % 137 145 23,2 %

Medium 1 858 001 12,4 % 94 756 16,0 %

SMEs 12 182 012 81,3 % 419 913 70,9 %

Large 2 804 688 18,7 % 172 234 29,1 %

66

Boosting investments

Education and training

Guidance and counselling

Improvements in labour law

Reducing payment delays to improve cash-flows

11.2.2. Indirect and direct funding

The European Union helps SMEs through indirect and direct funding. The main sources of indirect

funding are the Competitiveness and Innovation framework programme (CIP) and EU structural

funds (used by the member states).

Indirect

Bank or venture capital fund

Guarantee institutions

Counter guarantees for new and small companies

Participates in venture capital fund

Direct

Direct grants (co-financing projects) usually 50 % to help implementing

Project costs source

11.2.3. State guarantees

The state guarantees are for helping the SMEs to get access to finance. Usual guarantees are associ-

ated with a loan or another obligation by a borrower to a lender. Guarantees can be granted indi-

vidually or within a scheme.

67

11.2.4. European support programmes for SMEs

The European Union has numerous support programmes to help SMEs. Programmes are divided be-

tween different fields of businesses such as transportation and environmental friendly solutions.

There exist also programmes for education and training as well as for entrepreneurs.

The website of the Enterprise Europe Network44 can help to connect with partners throughout

Europe, give access to technology and provide information on the various financing options. With a

network of more than 45 support organisations in Europe this information source can also help at

local level and assist entrepreneurs in relevant topics.

Launched 2009, the Erasmus program for young entrepreneurs can help to learn from experienced

SMEs and build a useful network45.

More detailed information about different support programmes can be found from the European

Commission web site46 or from the Access2finance website of the European Union47.

(European Commission 2009e; European Commission 2007.)

12. Intellectual property rights

All the existing international treaties for intellectual property rights have been signed by Italy and

therefore foreign companies enjoy the same protection as Italian companies. Being one of the found-

ing members of the EU, Italy has set very high standards in the development of intellectual property

rights and now provides one of the most modern and up to date intellectual property practices in

the world. Recently Italy has introduces new measures to combat counterfeiting, protect internet-

related intellectual property, offer online filing options for claims and merged and simplified patent

and trademark rules.

In 2003 the government has established 12 intellectual property tribunals in major cities of Italy and

the label of “made in Italy” has become more protected - supporting Italian companies with funds to

use this label and prosecuting misuse. Regarding the infringement of industrial property rights the

Italian law is stricter than other countries.

44

http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

45 http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/

46 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3537&tpa_id=201&lang=en

47 http://www.access2finance.eu/en/Italy/what_is_available.htm

68

2005 the government set out a new legislation (called the “Industrial Property Code”) which rede-

fines industrial property including designations of origin (denominazioni d’origine), geographical indi-

cations (indicazioni geografiche) and company confidential information. (Invitalia 2009.)

12.1. Trademarks

In Italy the patent and trademark office is called Ufficio Brevetti. There are two options for register-

ing trademarks.

Hire a consult to help with the procedure

Apply registration personally

The trademarks are registered in the Chamber of Commerce in which is the area office of the Italian

Patent and Trademarks. The application forms are also available in the Ufficio Brevetti website48.

It is possible to apply registration for words, graphics or even colours and shapes. Analysis of the

already existing trademarks has to be conducted before proceeding with the registration in order to

avoid conflicts with already registered trademarks. It is possible to register the trademark not only in

Italy but also in the European Union area or in just some foreign country.

Form C is necessary when registering a trademark. It indicates the classes of services and products

covered by the trademark. All the costs and fees also have to be paid. The cost of the registration can

be estimated in the Italian patent office website by filling a cost evaluation form49. (Ufficio Brevetti

2010.)

General information on trademarks:

Registered for unlimited time

Can be renewed every 10 years

It is possible to register: name, one or more words, graphics, a sound or colours or their

combinations

It is possible to register existing trademark if it’s not Italian

An area can be marked where the trademark is protected

Application forms are available also in Internet

48

http://www.ufficiobrevetti.it/en/trademarks/trademark_home.htm

49 http://www.ufficiobrevetti.it/en/costs_evaluation.html

69

Can be used without registration but the protection is then poor

(Ufficio Brevetti 2010.)

12.2. Patents

The patent gives to its holder an exclusive right to produce and commercialise an object or system in

the country where it has been registered. Inventions and utility models are the two main types of

patents in Italy and aside from them a special design or a model can also be patented. (Ufficio Bre-

vetti 2010b.)

The invention patent

Objects have to be thoroughly tested and examined to obtain an invention patent

Represents highest level of innovation

Patent lasts 20 years from the filing date

Cannot be renewed after expiry

The invention patent can be granted for the following forms of object:

Products

Productive procedures

Vegetable varieties

The following objects cannot be patented as inventions:

Discoveries

Scientific theories

Mathematical methods

Plans

Principles and methods of intellectual activities

Games or commercial activities

Elaborator’s programmes

Information’s presentations

(Ufficio Brevetti 2010b.)

70

The utility model patent

Utility model patents exist in Italy and in few other countries. A utility model is an intellectual prop-

erty right to protect inventions. It can be granted without any kind of test. It is the easiest to obtain

but hardest to preserve. The duration is 10 years and cannot be renewed. The utility model patent

protects the objects (not procedures) that make a modification in an existing product. Usually these

modifications make it easier to use the modified product or enhance the utilisation. (Ufficio Brevetti

2010b.)

It can be hard to choose between invention and utility model patents. This is why it is possible to

perform a “double filing” which means simultaneous patent application for both the types of patent.

The object of the patent has to be absolutely new. It can’t have been patented elsewhere before. If a

product is patented in another country, it can’t be patented in Italy, but can be produced and sold

there. (Ufficio Brevetti 2010b.)

A cost estimate of patenting a product can be obtained at Italian patent office website50.

13. Environmental Policies

In Environmental issues there is a shared authority between EU and the member states. This means

that great amounts of environmental policy decisions are made together with other EU countries. It

also means that most of Italy’s environmental policy is common throughout the EU. The full text of

environmental legislation in EU can be found from the treaty establishing the European Community

Articles 2 & 6 and title XIX51. (Environment policy of EU 2010.)

Italy is one of the three EU member states that have not achieved their Kyoto targets. There have

been problems especially with greenhouse gas emissions, waste management in some parts of Italy,

air pollution and climate change. In 2009 Italy had a budget of € 200 billion to meet the Kyoto tar-

gets. (Environment policy review of Italy 2008, 1, 7.)

Italy has made a promise that it will meet its targets that was set for the climate and energy package

in December 2008. This means that Italy has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in non-ETS sectors

(e.g. buildings, road transport and farming) by 13 % by 2020 compared to 2005 levels and energy

coming from renewable sources has to have a share of 17 % of total energy consumption. This is 5 %

more than it was in 2005. The Italian government has also set its own targets about electricity pro-

50

http://www.ufficiobrevetti.it/en/patents/costs_evaluation.htm

51 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/12002E/htm/C_2002325EN.003301.html#anArt175

71

duction from renewable sources for the years 2007-2012. The goal is to increase the production by

0.75 % per year. Italy has received the largest amount of money among the 27 member states from

the EU cohesion fund to support its sustainable energy investments. (Environment policy review of

Italy 2008, 3.)

In late 2007 Italy made a national plan considering agricultural biodiversity. It specifies actions to be

made for better collection, cataloguing and conservation of animal breeds and for organic agricul-

ture. Italy is one of the top member states in organic farming and is still struggling with severe air

pollution, despite many implementations of sustainable mobility policies at local level. (Environment

policy review of Italy 2008, 4.)

The current issues to be tackled are: air pollution from industrial emissions, for example sulphur

dioxide, industrial and agricultural effluents polluting coastal and inland rivers, acid rain is damaging

lakes, deficient industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities. (International education media

2010, 5.)

13.1. The Ministry of Environment

Environmental policy is dealt by the Italian ministry for Environment and the Protection of Land and

Sea (Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare). The European Union in 2000,

gave a warning as Italy had failed to present information about their environmental issues. (Com-

manding Heights Italy 2010, Italian Ministry of environment 2010.)

Italy renewed its environmental legislation in 2006 by implementing the “Environmental Code”. The

new legislation includes new general environmental principles, guidelines of Environmental Impact

Assessments and Strategic Environmental Assessment and some more straight regulations about

water resources, water protection and waste. (Environment policy review of Italy 2008, 6.)

In Italy there are various agencies that work under the Ministry of Environment and take care of the

implementation of the environmental law and developing environmental protection. One of the

most important is the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, (ISPRA - Istituto Superiore

per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale). It has been established in 2008 and replaces some former

environmental agencies like Italian Environment Protection and Technical Services Agency (APAT),

National Institute for Wildlife (INFS) and Central Institute for Scientific and Technological Research

(ICRAM). (ISPRA 2010.)

72

Italy has signed most of the following international environmental agreements:

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,

Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic

Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental

Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone

Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Italy has also signed the Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol and the Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pol-

lutants, but these agreements have not been ratified. (International education media 2010.)

More information about environmental policy in Italy can be found from the websites of the Italian

Ministry of Environment52. The websites are in Italian.

14. Further Useful Information

Small Business Act (SBA53) is an instrument to do business with more ease in the Single Market. SBA

(2008) which followed the ”Think Small First” principle has introduced some useful measures for

small businesses. It aims to improve the overall approach to entrepreneurship. The SBA for Europe

applies to all companies which are independent and have fewer than 250 employees.

SBA instruments include:

The European Private Company (Societas Privata Europaea -SPE ) form.

General Block Exemption Regulation on state aids simplifies procedures and reduces costs.

It increases the aid intensity for SMEs and makes it easier for SMEs to benefit from aid for

training, research and development, environmental protection and other types of aid.

An amendment to the directive on late payments to help to ensure that SMEs are paid

within the 30 days time limit stipulated.

Commitment to cut administrative burden by 25% by 2012. The time needed to start a new

company should be no more than one week, the maximum time to obtain business licenses

and permits should not surpass one month and one-stop-shops should assist to facilitate

start-ups and recruitment procedures.

52

www.minambiente.it

53 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/index_en.htm

73

It is planned to help boost small businesses in Europe and on the global market. The European Small

Business Portal54 gathers together all the information provided by the EU on and for SMEs, ranging

from practical advice to policy issues, from local contact points to networking links.

Erasmus for young entrepreneurs55 programme helps upgrade the skills of new entrepreneurs and

contribute to the networking among SMEs in Europe.

Information on access to finance can be found on the website for EU finance for SMEs56, where spe-

cific information is given to the country of interest.

The Commission makes direct financial contributions in the form of grants in support of projects or

organisations57 which further the interests of the EU or contribute to the implementation of an EU

programme or policy.

Your Business Europe58 offers online information regarding Starting a Business, Managing a Business,

Doing Business responsibly, Profiting from the EU Market, Expanding a business, Competing through

Innovation, Deciding to Stop, Access to finance and Business support in all the 27 Member States.

54

http://ec.europa.eu/small-business/

55 http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/

56 http://www.access2finance.eu/en/Finland/what_is_available.htm

57 http://ec.europa.eu/contracts_grants/index_en.htm and

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/finance/guide-to-funding/index_en.htm

58 http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/business/index_en.htm

74

15. Useful links

Setting up a

business in Italy

www.invitalia.it Italy´s government agency for inward investment promotion and enterprise development

www.eubusiness.com/europe/italy Information from the Commission on how to set up a business

www.chamberofcommerce.it Chamber of Commerce Italy

www.uibm.gov.it/ Patent and Trademark Office

www.cna.it/eng/index.htm CNA, the National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

www.confcommercio.it

Italian General Confederation of Enterprises, Professional Occupations and Self-employment

http://www.ueapme.com/ European association of craft, small and medium-sized companies

www.inail.it INAIL - The Worker´s Compensation Authority

http://www.confesercenti.it/en/index.php Business associations in Italy

www.registroimprese.it The official business register of the Italian Chamber of Commerce

www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu Enterprise Europe Network

http://www.eurid.eu/en/eu-domain-names.eu Domain names

www.notariato.it Italian notaries

www.ifac.org International Federation of accountants

www.consob.it The public authority responsible for regulating the Italian securities market

http://ec.europa.eu/small-business/index_en.htm European portal for small and medium sized enterprises

http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ebtp/index_en.htm European Business Panel Test

http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/site/index_en.htm Solvit - problem solving with public authorities

http://www.businesseurope.eu/ Business Europe – representation of Europe´s federations

http://www.ueapme.com/ European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

www.unicreditbanca.it/it/legge488/ Unicredit Bank information on financial access

http://www.contributi.it/index.php Contributi - financial access information

http://www.confesercenti.it/en/index.php Italian business association representing over 270,000 businesses

http://www.confartigianato.it/ Italian business association representing over 521,000 businesses

http://www.confapi.org/

Italian business association for small and medium enterprises in the private industries representing over 120,000 businesses

www.confindustria.it/

Italian business association for manufacturing and service companies representing over 140,000 businesses

75

Con-sumer Affairs

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm Directorate for Health and Consumers in the EU

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/ucp_en.pdf

Directive for Unfair Commercial Practise

http://www.normapme.com European office for crafts, trades and SMEs for standardization

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/ European Consumer Centres Network

http://www.ecc-net.it/ European Consumer Centres Network Italy

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/fin-net/index_en.htm Financial dispute resolution network

www.tuttoconsumatori.it/eng_fra.html Nationwide consumers´ and users´ association

www.consumatori.it National association for consumer protection

http://www.adoc.org/ National association for consumer defense and orientation

http://www.adiconsum.it Adiconsum: Non-governmental consumer protection associations

http://www.confconsumatori.com/ Confconsumatori: Non-governmental consumer protection associations

http://www.aduc.it/ Aduc: Non-governmental consumer protection associations

http://www.normapme.com/english/standatabase.htm NORMAPME: Standard databases

http://www.elearning.normapme.com/start.htm NORMAPME: e-Learning - The reality of SME

http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm EEN: Enterprise Europe Network

Environ-mental issues

http://www.minambiente.it/ The websites of the Italian Ministry of Environment

http://www.isprambiente.it/site/en-GB/ The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

http://europa.eu/pol/env/index_en.htm Environment policy of EU

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm European commission - Environment

76

Taxes

http://www.agenziaentrate.it/ilwwcm/connect/Nsi/ Agenzia delle Entrate. Web Site of the Italian Revenue Agency :

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/key_documents/legislation_recently_adopted/index_en.htm

European Commission (2010). How VAT works.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm

European Commission (2010). Legislation Recently Adopted

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Income-tax

An introduction to Italy’s income tax

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Income-Tax-Liability

Income Tax Liability

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Taxable-Income

Taxable Income

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Income-tax-allowances

Income tax allowances

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Income-Tax-Rates

Income Tax Rates

http://www.justlanded.de/english/Italy/Italy-Guide/Money/Income-Tax-Returns

Income Tax Returns

http://www.agenziaentrate.it/ilwwcm/connect/Nsi/ Agenzia delle Entrate

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm

European Commission: VAT Legislation Recently Adopted

Macro and Mi-croecon-

omy

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication16055_en.pdf

European economy forecast per country (key indicators)

http://ec.europa.eu/archives/growthandjobs_2009/ Introduction to the Lisbon Strategy

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-BW-09-001/EN/KS-BW-09-001-EN.PDF

Full report about the business situation in Europe divided by business sectors

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-BW-09-001/EN/KS-BW-09-001-EN.PDF

Data for short-term economic analysis, Issue number 02/2010, Principal European Eco-nomic Indicators (PEEIs) for the European Union, the euro area and by countries

http://en.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20090511_00/italyinfigures2009.pdf Istat Italy in Figures 2009, giving a broad overview about Italy and its industrial sectors

77

16. Appendices

Appendix 1: The structure of the Italian research system (Erawatch 2010).

Appendix 2: Monthly statistics of the bonds (Borsa Italiana 2010).

78

Appendix 3. Requirements by the Italian law for the memorandum of association (Invitalia 2009).

79

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Auorita’ Garante Della Concorrenza e Del Mercato 2010. Italian competition authority.

http://www.agcm.it/eng/index.htm. Visited on 21.04.2010.

Banca D´Italia 2010. Bank of Italy. www.bancaditalia.it. Visited on 12.04.2010.

Bank of Finland 2010. Exchange rates. http://www.bof.fi/en/tilastot/valuuttakurssit/kuvaus.htm.

Visited on 12.04.2010.

Borsa Italiana 2010. The Milan exchange stock.

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factbook/geos/it.html. Visited on 15.02.2010.

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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/it/it_env.html. Visited on 17.04.2010.

Commission of the European Communities 2008. Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the Stat-

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http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/434&format=HTML&aged=0&

language=EN&guiLanguage=en. Visited on 28.03.2010.

Demunter, C., Dimitrakopoulou, C., Eurostat 2010. Tourism in Europe: first results for 2009.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-QA-10-004/EN/KS-QA-10-004-EN.PDF. Vis-

ited on 10.03.2010.

ECC-Net 2009. Key facts and figures. http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/key_facts_figues_en.htm.

Visited on 01.04.2010.

ECC-Net Italy 2009. Useful links to consumers. www.ecc-net.it. Visited on 01.04.2010.

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Entrepreneur Media 2010. How to name your business.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/startupbasics/namingyourbusiness/article21774.ht

ml. Visited on 03.03.2010.

Enterprise Europe Network 2010. http://www.enterprise-europe-

network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm. Visited on 30.03.2010.

Environment policy review of Italy 2008. Europa web pages.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pdf/policy/italy.pdf. Visited 17.04.2010.

Environment policy of EU 2010. Europa web pages. http://europa.eu/pol/env/index_en.htm. Visited

17.04.2010.

Erawatch 2010. National Profile Italy.

http://cordis.europa.eu/erawatch/index.cfm?fuseaction=ri.home. Visited 04.04.2010.

EURES 2010. Living and Working conditions.

http://ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?catId=8374&acro=living&lang=en&parentId=7783&countryId=IT

&living=. Visited on 11.04.2010.

Europa 2008. Press Release: Commission proposal for a Regulation on a Statute for a European Pri-

vate Company: Frequently Asked Questions.

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/company/docs/epc/proposal_en.pdf. Visited on 28.03.2010.

European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association 2007. Production of new motor vehicles in the

EU27 (January-September2007).

http://www.acea.be/images/uploads/st/MV%20production%20+%20summary.pdf. Visited on

02.03.2010.

European Central Bank 2010. Needed: European integration.

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European Commission 2007. State aid N 324/2007 – Italy Regional aid map 2007-2013.

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/register/ii/doc/N-324-2007-WLWL-en-28.11.2007.pdf.

Visited 21.04.2010.

European Commission 2008. Paying Taxes Italy.

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Visited on 13.04.2010.

81

European Commission 2008. SBA Fact Sheet Italy.

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_it_en.pdf. Visited on 01.03.2010.

European Commission 2009. Your Europe – Business, Italy.

http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/business/countries/italy/index_en.htm. Visited on 30.03.2010.

European Commission 2009c. National reform program 2009 Italy.

http://ec.europa.eu/archives/growthandjobs_2009/documentation/index_en.htm. Visited on

27.04.2010.

European Commission 2009d. Consumer Affairs. http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm. Vis-

ited on 24.04.2010.

European Commission 2009e. European Union support programmes for SMEs 2009.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3537&tpa_id=201&lang=

en. Visited 21.04.2010.

European Commission 2010. Labour Law. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=157. Visited on

12.04.2010.

European Commission 2010b. Individual Working Conditions EU.

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=706&langId=en&intPageId=202. Visited on 12.04.2010.

European Commission 2010c. Working Conditions.

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=706&langId=en. Visited on 12.04.2010.

European Commission 2010d. European Economic Forecast – spring 2010.

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/2010_spring/it_en.pdf. Visited on 08.05.2010.

European Commission, Enterprise and Industy (2005). SBA Fact Sheet Italy.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/craft/sme_perf_review/doc_08/spr08_fact_sheet

_it_en.pdf. Visited on 03.03.2010.

European Information Centre Vilnius. Guide to the establishment of enterprises and performance of

crafts in Europe – Italy. www.eic-vilnius.lt/home/eic/lt/FilesForDownload/files/Italy.doc. Visited on

03.03.2010.

82

Eurostat 2002. External and Intra-European Union Trade.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-CV-08-001/EN/KS-CV-08-001-EN.PDF. Vis-

ited on 23.02.2010.

Eurostat 2009. European Business, Facts and Figures.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-BW-09-001/EN/KS-BW-09-001-EN.PDF.

Visited on 25.02.2010.

Eurostat 2010. Eurostat Country profiles Web pages.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/guip/themeAction.do. Visited on 16.02.2010.

Eurostat 2010b. Eurostatistics, Data for short-term economic analysis.

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on 23.02.2010.

Eurostat 2010c. Employment statistics.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/guip/introAction.do?profile=cpro&theme=eurind&lang=en. Visited

on 11.04.2010.

Eurostat R&D 2010. Eurostat Statistics on Research & Development.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/science_technology_innovation/data/main_ta

bles. Visited on 04.04.2010.

FedEx 2010. Italy Country Profile 2009.

http://fedex.com/us/international/irc/profiles/irc_it_profile.html?gtmcc=us. Visited on 27.04.2010.

Fiat group 2010. Fiat Group at a Glance.

http://www.fiatgroup.com/en-us/group/default/Pages/default.aspx. Visited on 25.02.2010.

Financial Standards Foundation 2010. Financial Standards Foundation Country profile Italy Web

pages. http://www.estandardsforum.org/italy/standards. Visited 05.03.2010.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2009.

http://faostat.fao.org/site/535/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=535#ancor. Visited on 05.03.2010.

Forbes 2009. Special Report, The Global 2000. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/18/global-09_The-

Global-2000_Rank.html. Visited on 01.03.2010.

ILO 2010. National Labour Law Profile: Italy.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/info/national/it.htm. Visited on 12.04.2010.

83

Index Mundi 2010. Italy GDP - composition by sector.

http://www.indexmundi.com/italy/gdp_composition_by_sector.html. Visited on 28.04.2010.

Info Italy 2005. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107658.html?pageno=1. Visited 28.04.2010.

International education media 2010. Italian education.

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Invitalia 2009. Investment Guide. Doing Business in Italy.

http://www.esteri.it/mae/doc/ALL2DoingBusinessinItaly.pdf. Visited on 28.02.2010.

Invitalia 2009b. The Tax System.

http://www.invitalia.it/on-line/eng/Home/BusinessEnvironment.html. Visited on 03.05.2010.

Invitalia 2010. Italian Business environment.http://www.invitalia.it/on-

line/eng/Home/BusinessEnvironment/Labormarket.html. Visited on 30.04.2010.

Invitalia Country profile 2010. Italy in a nutshell.

http://www.invitalia.it/online/eng/Home/BusinessEnvironment/CountryProfile.html. Visited on

28.04.2010.

Invitalia Why Italy 2010. http://www.invitalia.it/on-line/eng/Home/WhyItaly/8reasonstoinvest.html.

Visited 28.04.2010.

ISPRA 2010. The Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.

http://www.isprambiente.it/site/en-gb/ISPRA/The_Institute/. Visited 17.04.2010.

ISTAT 2009. Italy in Figures. http://en.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20090511_00/italyinfigures2009.pdf.

Visited on 05.03.2010.

Italian Ministry of environment 2010. http://www.minambiente.it/. Visited 17.04.2010.

Johansson, U. 2006. Statistics in Focus, Industry, Trade and Services.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-NP-06-010/EN/KS-NP-06-010-EN.PDF. Vis-

ited on 07.03.2010.

Member states of the EU Italy 2010. Europa Web pages.

http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/eu_members/italy/index_en.htm. Visited on 28.04.2010.

84

Ministry of foreign affairs 2009. The Italian Economy.

http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Benvenuti_in_Italia/Conoscere_Italia/Economia.htm. Visited on

01.03.2010.

Miotti, Dr. Giacomo 2007. Internet Law- Reserved Domain Names in the Italian Legislation.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1691. Visited on 03.03.

2010.

Monthly Monitor 2010. Monthly labour market monitor April 2010.

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=751&furtherNews=yes. Visited on

19.04.2010.

Normapme 2010. The European office for crafts, trades and SMEs for standardisation.

http://www.normapme.com. Visited on 27.04.2010.

OECD Stat Extracts 2010. Environmental Performance of Agriculture in OECD countries since 1990.

http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=ENVPERFINDIC_TAD_2008. Visited on 06.03.2010.

OECD Stat Extracts 2010b. OECD Web pages.

http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=SSIS_BSC. Visited 21.04.2010.

OECD 2010. Tourismustrends und -strategien 2010.

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/21/61/44603973.pdf. Visited on 20.02.2010.

Petsch Frosch Klein Arturo Rechtsanwälte 2010. Der österreichische Unternehmer in Italien 2010, 5.

http://www.pfk.at/__C1256EC100496A72.nsf/ie/5FC30188FCC63B42C125712B0031279E?OpenDocu

ment. Visited on 15.04.2010.

PKF International Limited 2009. Italy Tax Guide 2009.

http://www.pkf.com/site/webdav/site/pkf/shared/Intranet/International%20Tax%20other%20attac

hments/Country%20Tax%20Guides%20in%20PDF/Italy%20Tax%20Guide%202009.pdf. Visited on

14.04.2010.

Properties in Europe 2005. Taxation of Italian property. http://www.properties-in-europe.com. Vis-

ited on 27.04.2010.

Schindler, M. 2009. The Italian Labour Market: Recent Trends, Institutions and Reform Options.

www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/wp0947.pdf. Visited on 11.04.2010.

85

Stanley St Labs. 2009. Economy Watch, Value Added Tax (VAT) in Italy.

http://www.economywatch.com/business-and-economy/italy.html. Visited on 16.04.2010.

Studio Internazionale Tornambè 2010. Studio Internazionale Tornambè Web pages.

http://www.accountantrome.com/setupinitaly.htm. Visited 03.03.2010.

The Constitution of Italy 2003. http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/it00000_.html. Visited on 13.04.2010.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank 2009. Doing Business

in Veneto.

http://www.doingbusiness.org/Documents/Subnational/DB09_Subnational_Report_Veneto.pdf. 2-3.

Visited on 01.03.2010.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank 2009b. Doing Business

2010 Italy. http://www.doingbusiness.org/Documents/CountryProfiles/ITA.pdf. Visited on

01.03.2010.

Ufficio Brevetti 2010. The Trademark.

http://www.ufficiobrevetti.it/en/trademarks/trademark_home.htm. Visited 23.04.2010.

Ufficio Brevetti 2010b. The Patent. http://www.ufficiobrevetti.it/en/patents/patent_home.htm. Vis-

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UHY International Ltd. 2009. Doing Business in Italy.

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Visited on 01.03.2010.

US Department of State 2009. Background Note Italy. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4033.htm.

Visited on 25.02.2010.

Welsh Assembly Government 2010. Italy. Setting up a business in Italy. http://fs4b.wales.gov.uk.

Visited on 01.03.2010.

World Tax Inc. 2010. Italy Income Taxes and Tax Laws 2009. http://www.worldwide-tax.com. Visited

on 27.04.2010.

World Tax Inc. 2010b. Italy foreign Investment Incentives. http://www.worldwide-

tax.com/italy/ita_invest.asp. Visited on 01.04.2010.

86

Your Europe 2010. Your Europe - Keeping the accounts web pages.

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Visited 05.03.2010.

18. Source permissions

Dear Alessandra,

Thank you for your request. you may use the information from our website for your report.

Please make sure to acknowledge the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The

World Bank as the source and the copyright holder of the data used.

Kind Regards,

Blaine Theodros

External Affairs, Office of the Publisher

The World Bank / 1818 H Street, N.W. / MSN U 11-1104 / Washington, D.C. 20433

℡ + 1-202-458-1715 � btheodros@worldbank.org � http://www.worldbank.org/publications

Dear Mrs. Martin,

with reference to your e-mail dated 16 April, we confirm that you certainly can use some of informa-

tion available on the Banca d’Italia website, with the notation of the source.

Kind regards,

“Paolo Baffi Library”

Banca d’Italia - Structural Economic Analysis Department - Library and Historical Archives Division

Via Nazionale, 91

00184 Rome – Italy

Fax no. +39 06 47922059

Dear Alessandra

Thanks for your mail.

You are welcome to do so.

87

Please kindly add a link to www.worldwide-tax.com <http://www.worldwide-tax.com/> as the source

(we prefer it to "Taxes portal").

Best Regards

Tsahi Bensadoun.

Customers Relationship Coordinator.

World Tax Inc.

Information Architecture Systems.

www.worldwide-tax.com is "BBC Recommended" and rated in "BBC Best Links".

Please visit us at:

Email: tbs@worldwide-tax.com

WebSite: http://www.worldwide-tax.com

Hello Alessandra,

That is not a problem. I would like to see a copy of the final version, however, to make sure we have

not been misrepresented, and that we have been referenced properly (unfortunately we have given

our permission to do this with others and they entered incorrect information).

Regards,

Ronan

ronan@bizweb.it

Studio Internazionale Tornambè

Dear Alessandra,

Thank you for your e-mail.

You may use access the Doing Business Guides on our website and use the data on your report, pro-

viding of course that you credit the source of the report.

I wish you and your team all the best with your report.

88

Kind regards,

Sofia

Sofia Godinho Murwill

Membership/Meetings Manager

UHY International

Tel: +44 (0)20 7216 4622

http://www.uhy.com/

Response (Ron Patrick L.) - 04/27/2010 12:44 PM

Dear Alessandra:

Thank you for your inquiry.

There is a wealth of FedEx information on the FedEx Web site at:

http://www.fedex.com/us/about/more/contact/students.html

Also, you may be able to find the information you are seeking by doing a keyword search using Ya-

hoo, Google or another Web search engine.

Trade publications are another excellent source of FedEx information.

If you are specifically asking for information about our scanners, the requested information follows.

FedEx owns a satellite, which is used to transmit data. An innovation unique to FedEx, the Digitally

Assisted Dispatch System (DADS) takes tracking technology and puts it on the street. Couriers use

DADS terminals in vans to upload data for every package they pick up or deliver. They plug the scan-

ner (Called a Supertracker) into this terminal, which transmits it to the tracking satellite and from

there to the FedEx tracking system.

We appreciate your interest and trust that you will be able to locate the information you are request-

ing.

Ron Patrick L.

FedEx Customer Service

89

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

we (a group of 6 people) are currently working on a country report of Italy in a course called "Doing

business in the European Union" at the Haaga-Helia University of Applied sciences in Hel-

sinki/Finland. As your website provides some very good information we would kindly like to ask if it is

possible to use some of your information online with the notation of PKF as a source in our report.

Thank you for your help.

Cordialmente

Alessandra Martin

Cari signore e signori,

we (a group of 6 people) are currently working on a country report of Italy in a course called "Doing

business in the European Union" at the Haaga-Helia University of Applied sciences in Hel-

sinki/Finland.

As your website provides some very good information we would kindly like to ask if it is possible to

use your information online with the notation of the Ministry of Foreign affairs Italy as a source in

our report.

From my understanding you work closely together with Invitalia. We have already sent a request to

them as well asking for the permission to use the information of their website. But we did not get a

reply (at the end of the e-mail see what and to whom we have sent our request).

Could you give us the permission to use your information and the information from Invitalia as well?

Cordialmente

Alessandra Martin