We have the most expensive rates in the EU
Unfortunately, ours is not a country suitable for small businesses. To reiterate this once again is the CGIA Studies Office. Even with regard to electricity and gas tariffs, the result that emerges from the comparison with large industries is merciless. As far as electricity is concerned, our small companies pay an average of 151,4 euros for every 1.000 kWh consumed (excluding VAT) against 77 euros for every 1.000 kWh of large companies, practically double (to be precise, 96,6 percent more).
With reference to gas, on the other hand, the gap is even heavier. Against an average cost for small businesses of € 59 per 1.000 kWh (excluding VAT), an average rate of € 21,2 per 1.000 kWh is applied to large companies. Basically, the former pay even 178 percent more than the latter.
In no other euro area country is there such a high misalignment of energy tariffs between these two size classes. And the weight of this misalignment on the national production system is evident if we consider that about 99,5 per cent of companies are small (less than 50 employees) and employ, net of public employment, 65 per cent of companies. Italians.
• Lighter electricity bill for the big ones, so the little ones pay
With regard to electricity tariffs, the entry into force, from 2018 January XNUMX, of the energy-intensive reform contributed to increasing the historical differential between small and large companies. The effect produced by this new legislation, which provides for a subsidized cost of electricity for large industries, effectively eliminated the item "Charges and Taxes" from the latter, redistributing it to all other categories of companies excluded from the concessions. As regards gas, on the other hand, the tariff gap is due to the fact that all large companies receive customized offers from suppliers with a price set tailored to their needs. Therefore, in the negotiations, the weight of consumption is crucial to "snatch" a very advantageous rate from the supplier. Possibility that, of course, is precluded to small businesses. It should also be remembered that in the free market price offers can only concern the energy component; other expense items - such as transport costs, system charges, meter management, etc. - are periodically established by the Energy Authority and are the same for all suppliers.
• We have the most expensive tariffs in Europe, taxes are heavy
By focusing only on small businesses, from a comparison with similar European production companies, it emerges that energy costs in Italy are among the highest. In fact, among all the countries in the euro area, only in Germany the cost of the electricity bill is 16,7 per cent higher than ours. Compared to the European average, however, our small entrepreneurs pay an average of 12,1 per cent more.
When we analyze the cost of gas, on the other hand, among the countries of the euro area, Italian SMEs are in third place (after Finland and Portugal) for the highest tariff. If, as we have reported above, the average applied in our country for every 1.000 kWh (excluding VAT) consumed is equal to 59 euros, we record a price variation compared to the average of the countries that use the single currency of +15,5 per hundred.
Together with the trend in the cost of raw materials, the tax component is the other item that contributes significantly to raising the cost of tariffs. For the electricity bill, for example, in Italy 50 per cent of the total cost is attributable to taxes and charges: the average in the euro area, on the other hand, is 48 per cent. For gas, on the other hand, if in our country the percentage incidence of taxation on the total cost borne by small companies is 36 percent, in the euro area it is around 34 percent.