here’s what the Competition decree approved in the Senate provides

With the approval of the Senate, the government-initiated bill, “Annual Law for the Market and Competition 2023”, which is divided into four chapters, has been definitively passed. The first is entirely dedicated to the reorganization of motorway concessions. In particular, Article 1, paragraph 1, identifies the purposes to which the provisions are aimed and defines their scope of application, specifying, in paragraph 2, that they integrate the general regulation of motorway concessions set out in the Public Contracts Code.

Article 2 provides that, for the purposes of awarding motorway concessions, the granting body shall take into account the optimal management areas of the motorway sections identified pursuant to Article 37, paragraph 2, letter g-bis, of Legislative Decree no. 201 of 2011.

Article 3 establishes, in paragraph 1, that the granting body awards motorway concessions according to public tender procedures, while direct awarding is permitted exclusively in the cases identified in paragraph 2. Paragraph 3 prohibits the use of project financing for the awarding of expired or expiring concessions.

Article 4 regulates the content of tender notices and provides that the granting body publishes, as an attachment to the notice, a survey of the maintenance status of the infrastructure for the purpose of formulating offers accompanied by a plan for ordinary maintenance and places at least one feasibility project as the basis for the tender for the design and execution of the works and extraordinary maintenance operations.

Article 5 regulates the procedure for in-house assignment. Article 6 defines the object of the contract, providing that it includes the ordinary management and maintenance of the motorway infrastructure, as well as, in relation to the projects put out to tender, the technical-economic feasibility design, the executive design and the execution of the works and extraordinary maintenance works, identified by the concession agreement and the related updates. The same article provides that the operating risks are borne by the concessionaire. Article 7 provides that the activities that form the object of the contract are remunerated through the collection by the concessionaire of toll rates, and contains provisions regarding the charges relating to the design and execution of the works and extraordinary maintenance works. Article 8 identifies the contents of the draft agreement that must form the basis of the assignment of each motorway concession. Article 9 regulates the preparation, approval and updating of the concession agreements and the related economic-financial plans.

Article 10 provides that the duration of concessions is determined by the granting body based on the services and works requested from the concessionaire and that it cannot last more than fifteen years. This term can be derogated only in the event that the program of works to be awarded does not allow for the recovery of the investments made and the return on the invested capital. At the end of the concession, the granting body proceeds with a new award. Article 11 regulates the termination of the motorway concession determined by reasons of public interest or deriving from non-fulfilment by the concessionaire and identifies the rules applicable, pending the award, to a new concessionaire. Article 12 regulates the procedure relating to the fixing and updating of motorway tariffs and establishes, in the budget forecast of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, a national fund for investments in the motorway network, for the economic and financial rebalancing of concessions. Article 13 provides for the adoption of the National Highway Investment Plan for a ten-year period, in order to identify the works and extraordinary maintenance projects to be included in the tender notices for new concessions.

Article 14 contains provisions applicable to existing agreements and regulates the procedure for updating the Pef of concessionaire companies for which, on the date of entry into force of Legislative Decree no. 215 of 2023, the five-year regulatory period has expired and for those for which this deadline occurs starting from the date of entry into force of the bill under consideration. Article 15 confirms that the provisions on the awarding through public tender procedures of a share of between 50 and 60 percent of the contracts for works, services and supplies established by agreement between the grantor and the concessionaire, pursuant to Article 186 of the Public Contracts Code, which introduced a flexible system for identifying the shares of works, services and supplies to be awarded to third parties, to be established within a specific range and according to legislatively established parameters, shall apply to existing motorway concessions not awarded through project financing, or through public tender procedures in accordance with European Union law.

Chapter II establishes provisions on the collection of prices and commercial practices concerning the insurance sector, transport, removable structures functional to the activity of public establishments and competition. Article 17 integrates the legislation on the tasks and functions of the Chambers of Commerce, specifying that the collection of prices and tariffs is limited only to certain products indicated by the Guarantor for the surveillance of prices, implemented with methods defined by specific guidelines adopted by the Guarantor itself. Article 18 provides that the Communications Regulatory Authority shall update the regulation containing the revision of the rules regarding mobile number portability, in order to introduce monitoring and supervision methods that guarantee the correct use of the information acquired from suppliers of electronic communication networks or services when consumers change operator.

Article 19 introduces in paragraph 1 some enforcement measures of the prohibition, for representatives of categories having a direct interest in the matter and whose uses are subject to detection, to be part of the technical committees established at the chambers of commerce, industry, crafts and agriculture for the detection of commercial uses. The article also intervenes on the information that energy retail companies are required to provide to the end customer upon request. By virtue of the new law, the end customer can exercise the option to receive information electronically, not only on invoicing and bills, but also on the name of the intermediary with whom the offer was signed. Article 20 contains provisions aimed at promoting the portability of data contained in black boxes, providing for a ban on inserting clauses that prevent or limit the insured from uninstalling electronic devices free of charge upon the annual expiry of the contract, or that provide for penalties for their return after such expiry, under penalty of nullity of the same, a mechanism for the portability of data recorded by black boxes and a monetary compensation mechanism for making the data available.

Article 21 recognizes the possibility for insurance companies to establish an information system on non-compulsory insurance relationships, aimed at combating fraudulent behavior and placed under the supervision of Ivass (Institute for the Supervision of Insurance). Article 22 entrusts Ivass with the management of a portal whose purpose is to allow the transparent comparison of insurance contracts stipulated to cover damages caused by natural disasters and catastrophic events. Article 23 introduces into the Consumer Code a measure to combat the commercial practice known as re-portioning, providing for an information obligation, through a specific label, regarding the reduction in quantity, for a period of six months from the placing on the market, of the product in question.

Article 24 provides that vulnerable domestic electricity customers may request, by 30 June 2025, access to the service with gradual protections, according to methods whose identification is delegated to Arera (Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment). Article 25 introduces amendments to Legislative Decree no. 135 of 2018, in order to penalize failure to register in the computerized register of companies carrying out non-scheduled public transport activities by those who provide taxi or NCC rental services. Article 26 contains a delegation to the government for the reorganization of the rules on the concession of public spaces of cultural or landscape interest to public service companies for the installation of removable structures functional to the activity carried out outdoors. Article 27 introduces amendments to the Environmental Code, in order to specify that it is always possible to build autonomous systems for the recycling and recovery of packaging waste that are related to multiple supply chains.

Chapter III contains provisions on start-ups and business activities. Article 28 intervenes on the discipline of the innovative start-up, dictated by the Start-up Act. In particular, paragraph 1 adds further requirements qualifying the concept of innovative start-up, introducing the requirement according to which the innovative start-up must be a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise and specifying, within the requirement according to which the innovative start-up must have an exclusive or prevalent corporate purpose, the development of innovative and innovative products or services with high technological value, that it must not carry out prevalent agency and consultancy activities. The article in question introduces specific requirements essentially proving the dynamism and evolution of the enterprises for the purposes of the permanence of the innovative start-up in the special section of the business register after the end of the third year up to a total of five years. It allows to extend the term of the five years overall for the permanence of the innovative start-up in the special section of the business register for a period of two years up to a maximum of four years for the transition to the scale-up phase, in the presence of specific requirements, essentially attributable to the development of the company. It maintains, in the cases commented above, the provisions regarding tax deductions provided for the interventions of innovative start-ups.

Article 29 provides that the most innovative start-ups registered in the special section of the business register have the right to remain beyond the third year, provided that the new requirements prescribed by the Start-up Act are met within twelve or six months. Article 30 introduces changes to the framework defined for certified incubators provided for by the Start-up Act. In particular, support and acceleration activities in favor of innovative start-ups are included among the possible requirements for the purposes of defining a certified incubator. Article 31 introduces changes to the incentive provisions provided for innovative start-ups. In particular, the scope of application of incentives for investment in innovative start-ups is delimited, including those under the de minimis regime, increasing, in the latter case, the percentage of deduction from 50 to 65 percent of the amount invested by the taxpayer in the share capital of one or more innovative start-ups. Finally, the deadline for the use of the 31 percent deduction of the amount invested by the taxpayer in the share capital of one or more SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) and innovative companies is set at 2024 December 50.

Article 32 introduces a contribution in the form of a tax credit for certified incubators and accelerators. Article 33 contains provisions aimed at incentivizing investments in innovative start-ups. Specifically, it establishes the conditions for access to the non-taxable regime for income from qualified investments in shares or stocks of venture capital funds, made by compulsory social security institutions, private social security funds or in the form of pension funds. Article 34 provides that Municipalities, by 25 July 2025, must equip themselves with IT components for the telematic officer of the one-stop shop for productive activities (Suap). Article 35 amends the Consolidated Immigration Act in order to facilitate the entry and residence of foreign investors also in the case of investments in the capital of venture capital funds. Article 36 is intended to suspend the effectiveness of specific provisions on institutional accreditation, with particular reference to requests by new facilities or the start of new activities in pre-existing facilities and contractual agreements for the provision of health and social health services on behalf of and at the expense of the National Health Service. Article 37 contains provisions aimed at extending the 5 percent limit to commissions charged to operators, to all agreements of any kind entered into by companies that issue meal vouchers, in paper or electronic form, and operators. Article 38 amends the current legislation on the conditions for the stipulation of agreements with companies by the Regions and autonomous Provinces for the purpose of processing plasma collected in Italian transfusion services for the production of blood derivatives. Finally, in Chapter IV, Article 39 contains the financial provisions to ensure coverage of the measure and Article 40 provides for the entry into force of the law on the day following its publication in the Official Journal.

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