Description
With regard to the regulation of investee companies, the regulatory interventions carried out at provincial level are highlighted below.
1. Provincial Law No. 7 of 3 April 1997, Articles 37 ter, 53, 53 bis, 58, paragraph 8 bis, 75 quater and quinquies
| With Article 7 of Provincial Law No. 19 of 29 December 2016, which introduced Article 37b of Provincial Law No. 7 of 3 April 1997, as amended by Article 15 of Provincial Law No. 22 of 27 December 2021, the provincial legislature regulated the criteria and procedures for access to employment in instrumental bodies governed by private law. Article 53 of Provincial Law 7 of 1997 regulates the procedures for the transfer of employees from the Province or functional bodies dependent on it to private companies or corporations. Paragraph 1 sexies of the aforementioned Article also provides that, also in connection with the reorganisation, amalgamation and redefinition of the tasks and activities of the instrumental bodies of the Province, and following the mobility procedures laid down for the companies directly controlled by the Province, any staff that is surplus to requirements at these bodies may be made available to the Province, also for placement at different instrumental bodies, subject to verification that the relevant recruitment has been arranged by the instrumental body through selective procedures carried out in compliance with the constitutional principles of publicity, transparency and impartiality. With Article 53a, the provincial legislature has established, also for the instrumental bodies of the Province, a prohibition on conferring consultancy, cooperation organised by the client, and study appointments on private, self-employed and retired public employees, and on conferring management or executive appointments on them. It is also not permitted to grant such persons appointments to governing bodies of the instrumental bodies provided for by Provincial Law No. 3 of 2006. The possibility of conferring offices and positions free of charge remains, however, without prejudice to the reimbursement of any expenses provided for in the deed of appointment. By Article 31, paragraph 6 of Provincial Law No. 14 of 30 December 2014 (Provincial Finance Act 2015), which added paragraph 8 bis to Article 58 of Provincial Law No. 7 of 1997, APRAN is authorised, on the basis of directives from the Provincial Council, to enter into standard first-level collective labour agreements for the instrumental bodies governed by private law of the Province. To implement the provision, Provincial Council Resolution No. 1015 of 2015 identified the instrumental private-law bodies affected by the provision - companies and foundations other than research - and issued specific implementation directives. The definition of the single contract is in progress. Therefore, Article 75c lays down provisions on the economic treatment of the staff of the instrumental bodies of the Province, specifically providing that the Provincial Council may set possible limits on the cost of labour, define specific criteria and procedures for the containment of contractual burdens, which are implemented in first- and second-level bargaining, as well as criteria and procedures for the quantification of the additional remuneration attributable by the instrumental bodies to the staff made available by the Province, in compliance with the provisions of the collective agreement. The provincial legislature has also provided that a resolution of the Provincial Council shall lay down the procedures for monitoring the staff allocations of the instrumental bodies indicated in Article 33(1)(b) and (c) of Provincial Law No 3 of 2006, as well as the cases in which express authorisation for recruitment is required, and the procedures for ascertaining redundancies and triggering mobility between the same bodies or between the bodies indicated in Article 53. Article 75d concerns the canteen replacement service for the staff of the provincial public system. This Article provides, in fact, that the Province, as an alternative to contracting out, may proceed with the direct management of the canteen replacement service, also entrusting it to an instrumental company referred to in Article 33(1)(c) of Provincial Law No 3 of 2006 or to one of its subsidiaries, through the use of appropriate means of entitlement for the staff of the Province and of the other entities belonging to the integrated regional territorial system referred to in Article 79 of the Special Statute, following agreement with them. |
2. Provincial Law No 4 of 12 May 2004, Article 7
| Article 7 of Provincial Law No. 4 of 12 May 2004 provides, in particular, that the Provincial Council is to adopt directives, including differentiated directives, in respect of the subsidiary companies, with the aim of making them contribute to the fulfilment of the obligations imposed on the Province and of harmonising the economic and financial planning instruments of the aforesaid companies with the corresponding planning instruments of the Province. More specifically, the directives may concern the procedures for setting up the economic and financial planning documents, the use of system tools, the forms of associated management of services, the criteria and procedures for recruiting personnel and for the conferral of consultancy and collaboration mandates, as well as criteria for rationalising particular types of expenditure. The scope of the aforementioned articles is significant because they recognise the companies controlled by the Province as components of the provincial public system. In this sense, the activity of the companies is subject to the coordination of the Administration, in particular for the search for operational synergies between the companies themselves and for the effective pursuit of the Province's strategic objectives. |
3. Provincial Law No. 1 of 10 February 2005, Articles 18 and 18 bis
| InArticle 18 of Provincial Law No 1 of 2005, the provincial legislature introduced a corporate group logic, providing in this sense that the Province shall direct and coordinate the activities of the joint-stock companies it controls, in compliance with the civil code. To this end, the law provides that the Provincial Council shall approve group strategic guidelines aimed at ensuring In particular, paragraph 3 bis of Article 18 of Provincial Law 1/2005, authorises the Province to carry out or promote operations to reorganise the system of provincial shareholdings in order to make it more efficient and functional for the achievement of provincial planning objectives, subject to the presentation to the competent Permanent Committee of the Council of appropriate programmes approved by the Council. The provision also regulates the contents and timing of the aforementioned programmes, in respect of which the Council gives an account of the implementation and the objectives achieved. On the other hand, the maximum limits of the remuneration for the members of the bodies of the companies, in implementation of the new Article 18 bis of Provincial Law no. 1 of 2015, are defined by Resolution no. 787 of 9 May 2018. |
4. Provincial Law no. 3 of 16 June 2006, Articles 33, paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and 33b
| Sections 33(5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) of ProvincialLaw No 3 of 2006 authorise the Provincial Council, by way of derogation from the general principle requiring the adoption of a specific provision of law, to acquire, confer or dispose of shares or quotas in companies, where the acquisition or loss of control in such companies is not determined, and where the acquisition or loss of the exercise of at least one fifth of the votes in the company's ordinary general meeting is not determined. Moreover, paragraph 8 of Article 23 of Provincial Law No. 18 of 27 December 2011 (2012 Budget Law) introduced Article 33b of Provincial Law No. 3 of 16 June 2006. This regulatory provision stipulates that by May of each year the Provincial Council shall submit to the competent standing committee of the Provincial Council a report on the functioning of the public system of the Province, reporting on the state of implementation of the reorganisation processes provided for by Provincial Law No. 3 of 2006, the Provincial Personnel Law, the provisions on organisation and personnel contained in the provincial finance laws, and in particular Article 18 of Provincial Law No. 1 of 2005 on the subject of the Province's subsidiary companies. The report also highlights changes with respect to the situation in the previous period, their reasons, the repercussions of the reorganisation on expenditure trends, the results achieved and any critical issues that emerged during implementation. The competent standing committee of the Provincial Council may also ask the Council for further details or specifications on the data and information contained in the report, and may request the intervention of those involved in the reorganisation of the provincial public system. |
5. Provincial Law 27 of 27 December 2010, Article 24
| Article 24 of Provincial Law no. 27 of 2010 (2011 Budget Law), as amended by Article 7 of Provincial Law no. 19 of 2016, regulates the use of the corporate instrument by the Province and the local authorities, establishing conditions and constraints. The rule provides, firstly, that the prerequisites required by state legislation for the participation of the Province and local authorities in companies exist in the case of regulatory provision of the participation itself or of the specific activity to be carried out. participation is also allowed in companies that, pursuant to the implementation rule of the Statute on energy, carry out electrical activities, including the construction and management of plants and networks functional to those activities. Secondly, the provision states that the establishment of new companies by the provincial and local authorities is subject to the verification of the economic, asset and financial sustainability of the activity carried out as well as the acceptance of constant monitoring of the same, in the case of in-house companies. Finally, the aforementioned article states that the Province and the local authorities, except as provided for in Article 2447 of the Civil Code, may not make share capital increases, extraordinary transfers, open credit facilities, or issue guarantees in favour of non-listed investee companies that have recorded losses for three consecutive financial years, starting from 2010, or that have used available reserves to cover losses, including interim losses. The fulfilment of these conditions requires the presentation by the companies of a multi-year recovery plan aimed at restoring economic and financial equilibrium. |
6. Provincial Law No. 25 of 27 December 2012, Article 2, Paragraph 3
Article 2, paragraph 3 of Provincial Law No. 25 of 27 December 2012 provided, as a functional tool for pursuing the objective of reorganising the provincial public system, for the establishment among the Province's companies of a shared services centre for the unitary management of human resources, general, legal, accounting and financial affairs, and other functions of a general nature.