Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi needs to push through controversial changes to the country’s labor law to get businesses to invest in the country, Marcella Panucci, director general of Italy’s biggest employers’ lobby said.
“You can’t reform a country if you’re unable to face obstacles, strikes or conflicts,” Panucci said in an interview at the Rome headquarters of the Confindustria lobby. “A serious cut in tax pressure, more flexible labor market rules and collective action by the EU” are needed to help boost growth, Panucci said.
Renzi faces a confidence vote today on his proposal to change labor market rules, making it easier to fire workers and more difficult to
challenge dismissals in court. Some members of the premier’s Democratic Party have criticized Renzi for trying to push the changes through with a confidence vote, and Italy’s biggest labor union, CGIL, has threatened to send thousands of workers into the streets on Oct. 25 to protest Renzi’s plan.
Panucci said the current legislation contains too much uncertainty for employers, which discourages both foreigners and Italians from investing in Italy.
Renzi will host a meeting of European heads of government later today in Milan. The meeting will discuss how to solve the EU’s jobs crisis focusing on youth unemployment, which afflicts 21.6 percent of people under the age of 25 in the region, according to Eurostat.
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