It is a question that brings Mattarella, on a visit to Switzerland, back to domestic issues and controversies. A question on tax evasion which is the issue on which the clash between the majority and the opposition on the budget law is rising, signed among other things on Tuesday 29 November by the head of state.
A clear sign that on a purely political act such as the manoeuvre, the Quirinale does not enter into a review by abiding by the more manifestly constitutional findings and also by the coherence of those European constraints included in the Charter. And therefore your answer does not have the value of a halt but rather signals a problem that is serious and above all refers to our commitments with Europe through the Pnrr.
Parola in Brussels
In fact, now the ball is in Brussels and it will be the EU Commission that assesses the compatibility of the rules on taxation with the objectives that we have set ourselves and that have made us collect the first installments of the EU Fund. Under the scrutiny are measures such as the scrapping of folders, the ceiling on cash to finish with the last case, that of fines for those who do not use the Pos below a certain threshold.
On taxation, indications defined in the EU Plan
Some commitments, in fact, had entered into the decrees linked to the Pnrr and therefore now it will be the EU that will define whether or not we have gone off the route we had indicated. As for Mattarella, these are authentic and he remembers it. «There is no doubt that the problem of tax evasion is a serious problem for any country and it is in an important way for Italy. A lot has been done and a lot is being done. And in the Pnrr this is a theme underlined with great concreteness and indications, among other things already defined with the EU”. And he also adds: «There are no signs that it will be changed».
The question that reporters asked him in Bern, at the end of the meeting with the president of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis, concerned precisely Europe’s calls on the tax authorities and the risk for Italy of conquering the black jersey of tax evasion. But even on the rankings the judgment of the head of state was cautious. “I have always been wary of the definitions that are given of the black jersey, first or last in the standings because they generally arise from different criteria from country to country, therefore, I am resistant to the use of these so unscientific definitions”. For his part, his counterpart Cassis confirmed that “the process of ratifying the agreement on the taxation of cross-border commuters and the cancellation of Switzerland from the 1999 black list was discussed: for Switzerland it is very important”. Inevitable to talk about Russia. “The autocracies challenge us – said Mattarella – and these challenges cannot be facilitated by uncertainties and divisions among free peoples, a renewed drive for unity and cohesion is needed”.