Italy has been turned upside down. While the austerity plan intended to fight against the failure of the Italian economy was adopted on December 22nd by the Italian Senate, its prime minister, Mario Monti, decided to "liberate the Italian economy of the chains that have for too long impeded its growth." And on January 2nd, this so-called liberation took a path that few Italians could have imagined possible just a short while ago, even if a law passed in July 2011 had already paved the way for it.

A store front in Rome / Photo: Pixel Formula


Clearly, this time it is a matter of completely liberalizing the hours and days of operation for virtually all businesses (bars, restaurants, nightclubs, supermarkets, etc..), including on Sundays and holidays. In parallel, the government would reform the labor market to move towards more flexibility (in hiring and firing) while maintaining a minimum of job security for Northern European employees. The idea behind this policy is to focus on growth and thus on consumption, facilitating the act of making a purchase.


The representatives of independent retailers fear the reign of shopping centers and large retailers pit them against independent retailers who do not have the means to put up a fair fight. To get a clearer picture, an adjustment period of 90 days was decided upon. Naples and Rome are already prepared to move forward, whereas Milan intends to use the three months to put this policy to the test. 

Mario Monti also said explicitly that he intends to convert his European counterparts into believers in a real growth strategy... Which is likely to cause some panic amongst the ranks of French retailers reluctant to liberalize the playing field.