PUBLISHING COMPANIES: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY WARNS GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT OF URGENT NEED TO REVISE SUBSIDY AND DISTRIBUTION LAWS THAT RESTRICT COMPETITION

Improve and expand services by extending economic support to new initiatives and promoting subscription mailings by Poste Italiane's competitors

The legal framework for the publishing sector requires urgent revision in order to eliminate competition-distorting provisions that regulate public subsidy mechanisms and distribution channels. This was the message communicated to both Government and Parliament following a fact-finding survey concluded by the Antitrust Authority in October 2009.

According to the Antitrust Authority, this sector's public support system is in need of revision: direct subsidies to companies that are already well-established in the sector should be channeled to include new business initiatives as well. This requires revamping the law that holds back subsidies until after the first five years of activity and modifying the quantification parameters used by incentive subsidies to promote efficiency.

Change is also required in the indirect postal-rate mechanism for the subscription mailing of published goods. This subsidy specifies Poste Italiane as the sole recipient, allowing it to discount its rates against corresponding subsidies. The only way to promote quality of service in terms of speed and reliability is by cultivating full competition among multiple postal enterprises. Postal compensations should also be distributed among publishing groups in a more balanced way, so as to free up more resources for subscriptions by schools and cultural centers and make room for alternative distribution methods, such as "newsstand subscriptions" and on-line subscriptions.

The Antitrust Authority, which would like to re-emphasize the need to bring a definitive end to authorization requirements for newsstand start-ups and to introduce new remuneration mechanisms, also recommends a reconsideration of the baseline definition of 'published goods.’ It should be made impossible to apply the subsidies for this sector and the laws on equality of treatment and informational pluralism to products with marginal or inexistent editorial content.

Rome - January 15, 2010