Its bad functioning slows down the economy and citizens have now given up: the degree of trust and satisfaction is among the lowest in all of Europe. We are talking about our Public Administration (PA) which, according to the CGIA Studies Office, is becoming the real problem of the country as a resource.
“According to a study presented a few months ago - reports the coordinator of the CGIA Studies Office Paolo Zabeo - the annual cost incurred by companies for managing relations with the PA amounts to 57 billion euros. Equal to 3 points of GDP, this expenditure constitutes a brake on development, investment and employment, penalizing SMEs above all ”.
Despite the commitment made in recent years, our PA continues to record a commercial debt towards its suppliers of 53 billion euros. A figure that remains among the highest in all of Europe:
“Our PA - claims the CGIA secretary Renato Mason - not only pays with a completely unjustified delay, but when it does so it no longer pays VAT to its supplier. Therefore, the companies that work for the State, in addition to suffering often unreasonable payment times, also pay for the non-collection of VAT which, while representing a turnaround, allowed companies to have greater liquidity to face current payments. This situation, coupled with the contraction in bank loans to businesses that has occurred in recent years, has worsened the financial stability of many SMEs ”.
However, from the CGIA Studies Office they point out that it would be wrong not to also recognize the levels of excellence that characterize many sectors of our public employment, such as, for example, the health service present in many central and northern regions, the level of teaching and of professionalism found in many high schools / universities / research bodies and the quality of the work carried out by the police. However, it remains a fact; on average, our PA has abundantly insufficient levels of efficiency, especially in the South.
Previously, we said that the degree of trust and satisfaction of our Public Administration (PA) is among the lowest in Europe. The results, elaborated by the CGIA Studies Office on the recent sample survey conducted by the OECD, once again confirm the inadequacy, according to the Italians, of essential public services essential for the good functioning of the country: such as justice, health, school and security.
As for the judicial system, only 31 percent of the Italians interviewed said they had confidence in it. The EU average is 56%. We rank desolately in 21st place together with Slovenia among the 23 European countries examined by this survey. Only Latvia has a lower level of trust than ours. Compared to the result recorded in 2007, we lost no less than 8 percentage points.
Equally negative is the outcome related to the degree of satisfaction in our health care. We are in 20th place with 49 percent of Italians who said they have a good health service. The EU average stood at 68 percent. With levels of satisfaction lower than ours, we only see Hungary, Greece and Latvia. Again, our satisfaction with the result that emerged in 2007 is 7 percentage points lower.
It is slightly better when we analyze the level of satisfaction of our school which, for 58% of Italians, is more than positive, against an EU average of 67%. Compared to the 23 European countries monitored by this survey, we are in 18th place paired with Slovakia. Compared to the survey carried out 11 years ago, the level of satisfaction in Italy has increased by 2 percentage points.
Finally, as regards the degree of confidence in the safety and work of the local police, 75 percent of Italians said they were very high. The EU average stood at 78%. In Europe we rank 15th. If we compare our result with that which emerged in 2007, we see that the degree of confidence has risen by 1 percentage point.
