ISBN Number: 978-92-64-03797-7
Publication Date: 08/11/2007
Pages: 131

Number of tables: 8
Number of graphs: 8

In recent years Italy has moved towards greater devolution of regulatory powers at regional level, in a European context where this dimension becomes increasingly important. Italy also needs to strengthen the competitiveness of its economy and to reduce red tape in order to sustain renewed economic growth. Multi-layered regulatory systems may create complex institutional settings, which, in turn, call for appropriate consultation and communication strategies to ensure policy coherence, clarity, and accountability. Italy has established several conferences that facilitate dialogue with the state.
 
Capacities for quality regulation tend to differ across regions, with different statutes and provisions, as well as an uneven recourse to regulatory impact analysis, or administrative simplification. Significant efforts have been undertaken to encourage the use of better information and communication technologies. However, strengthening the legal framework in terms of clarity, transparency of procedures and access to the market, would, by promoting transparency and competition, help to improve the economic performance of Italian regions. This was also highlighted in a sectoral analysis that focused on retail trade and local metropolitan transport in some of these regions.
 
Italy has requested a review by the OECD of its regulatory practices and reforms from a multi-level perspective. This review analyses first the institutional set-up for multi-level regulation, the specifics of power sharing between the State and the regions, as well as the horizontal and vertical co-ordination mechanisms in place in the country, before turning to the use of policy instruments and regulatory tools in four Italian regions: Veneto, Calabria, Campania and Tuscany.