The government's anti-corruption
bill, now nearing approval after being bogged down for two
years, is "very useful but does not have miraculous effects,"
anti-corruption czar Raffaele Cantone told a conference Tuesday.
It would be a "mistake," he said, to give the impression
that "the bill can wipe out corruption".
"The bill is very important but a well-designed code of
contract bidding is a lot more use to stem corruption than
raising penalties".
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference organised by the
anti-corruption authority and the OECD on guarding Expo 2015
contracts, Cantone insisted that the bill which will hit the
Senate floor Wednesday is not a panacea because the fight
against the corruption epidemic is not waged by "repressive
measures alone".
As for the bidding code, Cantone added, the framework of
new rules is being put into another government bill.
"The underlying idea," he said, "is to cancel structures
run by commissioners and ad hoc procedures".
"That book has to be closed, and another one opened".
Cantone and Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan recently
unveiled what they called a decalogue of 10 rules to try to
address a seemingly endless stream of corruption scandals.
The 12-page directive aims to prevent graft and kickbacks
in public contracts and State-owned firms.
It calls for the corporate life and operating decisions of
State companies to be made public, the rotation of managers and
executives, stringent conflict-of-interest rules, a map of
at-risk areas, and protection for whistle-blowers.
The new rules will be applied immediately to unlisted firms
that are directly controlled by the economy ministry, and will
be extended to listed ones after consultation with Consob stock
market watchdog agency.
They will affect companies that are strategic to the
Italian economy, such as ANAS roads and highways operator, ENEL
power utility, ENI oil and gas giant, Expo world's fair manager,
Finmeccanica aerospace and defence giant, the Italian Investment
Fund, Ferrovie dello Stato national railway company, Poste
Italiane post office, RAI public broadcaster, and SOGEI
information and communications technology company.
The 'decalogue' is meant to become a blueprint for regional
and municipal public companies as well.
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