Doing business in Italy 'harder' says EC

(ANSA) - Brussels, February 26 - Doing business in Italy is still hampered by obstacles to competitiveness and high administrative costs, according to a European Commission (EC) report on macroeconomic imbalances in EU member nations out Friday.
    Market liberalization measures being approved by parliament "still will not eliminate significant obstacles to competition in key sectors such as retail sales, professional services, local public services, and transportation," the report said.
    "Doing business in Italy is significantly harder than in other large EU economies, with modest progress made in the past few years," according to the report. The EC pointed out that a drop in Italian exports since the single currency was adopted "was aggravated in the first phase of the economic crisis, and subsequent recovery was almost null".
    However the drop in Italy's share of the export market in the past decade is "mostly due to eroded competitiveness", the report said.