Italy: reform of National public assets launched

A new bill aims at reforming the current civil laws on National public assets and institutions.

The final version of the bill, in its works since June 2007 under the Department of Justice supervision, was presented on April 29 by the Italian Public Assets commission during a public event in Rome titled: "From democratic government economics to public assets reform".

Mostly focused on structural changes, the reform bill fosters the social and civil rights of each citizen in accessing and using National goods and properties. In particular, the proposed document introduces the category of "common assets" in the Italian civil code, including rivers and lakes, highways and cultural artifacts, education institutions and public service networks. Both the State and, to some extent, private entities are in charge of management and protection of such assets, but they need always to meet the public needs at socio-cultural and economic levels.

Full text of the bill (in Italian).