By Liam Moloney
The Bible says it took God seven days (including one to rest) to create the world. It is taking Italy considerably longer to find a new industry minister.
At the very start of September Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would name a new industry minister “next week,” filling what was, at the time, a four-month void.
On July 23, the premier said the new minister would be named “by the end of next week.”
When former Industry Minister Claudio Scajola stepped down on May 4 to prepare his defense amid allegations of an improper real estate deal, Berlusconi — who took over the responsibilities on an interim basis — said a few hours later he would replace him within “days.”
At a time of high unemployment — especially among the young — and companies complaining of little government support in slashing red tape and fiscal bills to better compete internationally, not having an industry minister is taking its toll.
Labor union leaders and company bosses, in a rare show of unity, have found common cause in complaining over the matter. Recently, controversy-shy Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said he will “spread the word around [for possible candidates]” for the ministerial post as a hint to the government to speed up its decision.
The lack of direction is most evident in the country’s nuclear energy drive. Berlusconi’s government energy policy centers on a nuclear energy comeback, following a 1987 referendum that banned atomic power.
The government wants construction work on the first reactor to start before the next general elections due in 2013, so has to have a facility running by 2020. It has boasted that it ultimately wants a quarter of Italy’s electricity to be generated from nuclear facilities, reducing the strong reliance on imported fossil fuels.
A bunch of energy companies rushed to the local atomic bandwagon.
The pack were led by Italian utility Enel, which set up a venture with nuclear behemothElectricite de France. The two are ready to build four EPR plants in Italy for a total cost of about €18 billion.
However, a few days ago Giancarlo Aquilanti, the main Enel official in charge of nuclear affairs, said that unless the ball starts rolling again the company won’t be able to meet the 2013 construction target.
The newly established key nuclear safety agency exists essentially only on paper as it isn’t operational and there’s nobody to head it.
Without that figure, the agency won’t issue the rules that will allow companies to be able to select sites. The new industry minister will select who will be in charge of the nuclear safety agency.
The government has just decided to postpone the list of where nuclear waste can be deposited, preferring to first have the nuclear agency up and running, meaning that thanks to the snails-pace permit approval procedure, it will be even further down the line.
It feels very much like when you end up going back to square one in board games after landing in the wrong space.
For a country that has waited more than two decades for a nuclear renaissance, a “week” might be just too long.
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