Confcommercio
(The General Federation of Italian Merchants and Shopkeepers) was created in
Rome on April 29th, 1945.
As part of the preparations for this event, two preliminary
congresses were held in Naples in November 1944 and in Reggio Calabria in the
beginning of January of 1945.
At its birth (as proclaimed literally in article 1 of
its Status), the Federation was conceived as an “Organ of Linkage between the
Associations making it up”. At the time only the new free Associations of
tradesmen were part of it: 24 Provincials (of which 7 were Sicilians, 11 from
the South and 6 from Central Italy) and 14 national category associations, for
a total of 38.
What still had to be accomplished was the aggregation
of the Associations of Northern Italy, headed by the city of Milan, and this
was the topic debated in a special congress organised in the capital city of
the Lombard region in September 1945.
In fact the Federation had asked for a recommendation
of an exponent from the North to whom award the nomination of a member of the
National Council.
For this reason, the confederal structure was only
composed of 14 components (36 members were originally estimated) who had the
task of expressing a provisional Committee having the same powers of the
Council, composed of 5 members.
The election of the confederal President was
postponed on April 29th.
Mediation and unifying actions between the
Associations of Central and Southern Italy and those of the North were
accomplished by Amato Festi, the founder of the Association of Tradesmen of
Bologna.
Thanks to his direction ship, the Northern
Associations also participated in the Congress – Assembly from the 14th to the
16 February 1946, summoned by the Union of the city of Florence.
The confrontation and sometimes even controversial
debate was the definition of the relations between the provincial and category
Associations. This lead to the launching of a modification on the Status which,
in Article 3, predicted that the collection employment agreements, stipulated
on a National basis, wouldn’t have had any power, if they were not ratified
also by the single territorial Associations.
At the end of it the unifying spirit prevailed and the
Associations of the North adhered to the Federation.
In this way a total number of 90 Associations was
reached, including territorial Associations (64), and National (26) (9
territorial and 3 national had already adhered to the founders previously).
On
the 17th February 1946 Amato Festi was unanimously proclaimed President of the
Federation.
Amato Festi (1946
- 1951)
The actions of the first president of Confcommercio,
Amato Festi, lead to the accomplishment of the unification process of the
Federation and to the consolidation of the representatives of the world of
trade.
They were hard and difficult years, and the scars of
the war conditioned every expression of the economical life of the country, and
especially trade was burdened with the degenerations and distortions of the
internal market.
During the war, tradesmen had been hit not only by
the expansion of the black market, but also by all types of ‘opaque’
competitors which had developed in those chaotic years.
Following the closing down of the UNRRA (United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, an entity created for
economic and civil assistance of the harmed populations) on May 30th, 1947, many
improper competitive situations emerged due to coops, the Municipal entities
for consumer’s goods, the CRAL and agencies offering various assistances.
Neither can one forget the important role of the
Farmers’ Union nor the creation of official price-lists entrusted in the hands
of the Prefects.
From the pages of the newspaper "Corriere del
Commercio", Amato Festi traced out a strategic graph of Confcommercio,
identifying the guidelines of a commercial activity and the moralisation of the
category. His ability of proposal was not limited to a continuous participation
on the newspaper: his was also in a detailed presence among businessmen and on
the territory: in the first year of his presidency he visited 42 provincial
seats and 5 minor ones.
The first result of his activity was the adhesion of
other 20 provincial associations and 13 national ones.
As early as 1946 the F.I.P.E. (the Italian Federation
for Public Exercise) stated a profitable collaboration with the Federation,
setting up its commercial sector and a process of gradual normalisation.
By 1949 all the Associations of the Provinces (then
91) adhered to the Federation. In that same year, precisely on the 22nd January
1949, the first number of the “Giornale del Commercio” was issued.
Festi was unanimously reconfirmed President of the
Federation on March 21st, 1948.
In the following years Festi’s commitment towards the
organisational consolidation of the Federation was determining, and his
development in terms of political valences and of international presence.
The first step took place in 1950, when the Foreign
Trade absorbed the Federation, founded in Milan in 1947 by an important group
of exporters.
What’s more, the confederal political view became
also a supporter of the need to eliminate gradually the legislative,
administrative and customs barriers, directing itself towards a liberal
economic political view.
Signs of appreciation (especially following the
Congresses held in 1946 and 1947 at the ‘Bocconi’ University in Milan) were
given by the President of the Cabinet, the Hon. De Gasperi, who declared:
"I have been admiring for a long time the work and conceptions of your
Managers which exceeds category interests and which addresses especially the
economic activities and interests of the Nation”.
Thanks to the accomplishment of the Federation, on
the 31st October 1951 (Ugo La Malfa was Minister for Foreign Affaire) a
ministerial circular freed the importation of nearly all the goods from E.U.P.
(European Union for Payments). At the end of 1951 Amato Festi left the
leadership of the Federation.
Festi
was appointed “Cavaliere del Lavoro” a year later.
Giovanni Maria Solari (1951 - 1956)
The Genovese entrepreneur Gian Matia Solari
relaunched the Federation’s commitment on a politically- unionist scale in
1951.
Solari’s strategy, of liberal inspiration, increased
the representation of the Federation in the national trade-union universe.
His objective was not only to constitute a
trade-union front which also included the federations of agricultures and
industrialists, but also to bring to an end all the claims of the trade unions,
such as the CGIL (Federation of Italian Trade Unions), lead by Giuseppe Di
Vittorio.
In
fact there was an increase in the contractual importance of the trade unions
which reached a stipulation on the national contracts of the various categories
being represented, with the value of "erga omnes" for all subscribed
workers and non.
In this period, characterised by appreciated levels
of economic development, a gradual liberalisation of trade with foreign markets
was realised, with the result of an expansion in commercial exchange.
All this was possible thanks to the measures taken by
Minister Ugo La Malfa ( these measures were also strongly shared by President
Solari) who liberalised the importation of goods of all kinds from all types of
penalties, allowing the occurrence of a "franco valuta" (free value).
A word goes also to the launching by the new Minister
for State-Controlled Enterprises, whose institutions soon had deep
repercussions on the national economy and its future developments.
Vast and important productive sectors started to
operate in economic conditions assisted by the State and a new era of massive
endowments of public capital in favour of industries and sectors retained
strategic.
The consequence of all was the creation of an
industrial and statalist ‘culture’, anchored towards choices and opportunities
of a party politics nature, rather than the respect of the market rules and the
pursuing of objectives of national economic interest.
Sergio Casaltoli (1956
– 1971)
The president of the Union of Tradesmen of Florence
was elected president of the Federation in 1956.
Sergio Casaltoli gave particular importance to the
problems of the small firms, and his personal participation was constant in the
assemblies and different appointments of the associative live of the
Federation.
His direct contacts with the provinces of the entire
Italian peninsula and with the categories re-enforced the associative grounds
and stimulated the interest of many entrepreneurs.
The Federation’s policy, thanks to a period of
prosperity and social peace, reached high levels of success and prestige, both
on an organisational level and of political-trade union operativeness.
The commitment of the Federation in the regards of
tourism is remarkable, confirming the strategic role of the restoration of the
Nation’s economy.
A National Committee for Tourism was created in 1952,
with the participation of hotel organisations, travel agencies, public services
and art traders.
In 1959 Confcommercio proposed the constitution of an
Inter-Federal Committee for Tourism, to which Confindustria (Italian Manufacturers’ Association), Confartigianato (General
Federation of Italian Artisans and Craftsmen) and the General Association of
the Italian Show Business, belonged.
In 1961 it was decided to modify the status which
decreed the change in the federal denomination in “General Federation of
Italian Trade and Tourism”.
In 1966 Confcommercio gave instructions to business
regarding a new structure of services and assistance: the ENASCO institution,
which will alter be recognised thanks to a ministerial decree of April 1967.
During
the fifteen years of Casaltoli’s presidency the process of the regulation of
licences for commercial activities was consolidated, which produced relevant
consequences in defence of the interests of the commercial categories and of
the re-confirmation of the values for a free economic market.
Casaltoli’s present and the attention he dedicated to
the defence of small firms resulted in an interest and a gradual approach to
federal policies even on the behalf of small and large firms.
Casaltoli’s presidency came to an end in 1971.
Giuseppe Orlando
(1971 – 1986)
In 1971 Giuseppe Rolando was elected President, a
manager of Milan’s Union. Following the lines of his predecessors, he was
concerned with the valorisation of the image of Confcommercio as a business
organisation, and worked towards the re-enforcement of the potentialities of
political policies and contractual power, and the organisational
development.
The requests expressed by the Federation gained
importance on the Government tables, and in this way the regulations of the
trade disciplines were reached, by means of a relaunch of regulation 426.
The regulation imposed the end of a chaotic period
and normative confusion which created inconveniences to the workers and had
outlived, in the market, dysfunctions and heritages of the post-war period.
The organic and articulated regulation 426, appeared
to be up-to-date and was the answer to the businessmen’s aspiration, who were
waiting for a new discipline on the mercantile activities and of the delicate
mechanism of the issue of licences.
Under the direction of Orlando the Federation
continued its examination and solution-finding of the difficulties of small
distributions, not only of the impact with the new trade regulations, but also
because of the appearance of the first large distributions. The dysfunctions of
the transportation systems and trading and their relapse on the system were
highlighted, and their interaction with the distribution world: in this period
the first networks of associative distributive shops were set up.
New attention to the economic role of trade with the
foreign market allowed Giuseppe Orlando to gain the Presidency of A.N.C.E.,
which also incorporated a pre-existing Association for Foreign Trade with
Milan’s Union.
Confcommercio’s commitments in the regards of tourism
were also strengthened, and in 1977 the International Market for Tourism in
Milan, was launched, in which all the organisations were adhering to this
sector, participated. In the mean
time, a macro-economic situation was looming up in the Country, registering the
public debt with an increase, in the expenditure, which sometimes was out of
control. Since no other remedies could be identified, it seemed necessary to
appeal to an increase in the fiscal pressure. The General Federation of Italian
Merchants and Shopkeepers in which was applied especially to sectors of the
economic life, such as trade, which were prejudicially considered responsible
of evasion.
The Vanoni Reform had also given birth to a
non-positive and complex system which was also unmanageable and whose revenue
was inferior ot that calculated, in conclusion.
All these fast-moving events, in this spiral of
fiscal policy, lead the Minister for Finance Vicentini, to decide that all
shops had to install by law “cash registers”, in order to be able to make more ‘fiscal’
controls on the tradesmen’s business affairs.
President Orlando’s answer was very rapid,
proclaiming the lock-out of many shops in the whole of Italy, and,
notwithstanding the great success of such events, held in October 23rd and
November 14th of 1985, Minister Vicentini was inflexible; Orlando understood
that a complete victory would have meant a Government crisis.
Orlando’s policy continued to reinforce the image and
the organisational abilities and the trade union presence of the Federation, which
enforced its representation in the world of tourism and also extended it to
that of the services, assuming the new denomination of “The General Federation
of Italian Merchants and Shopkeepers.”
This denomination was later officially adopted during
the presidency of Francesco Colucci, with some modifications in the federal
status in May 1988. In 1986, while preparations were going on for the forty
years of the foundation of the Federation, unfortunately an incurable illness
hit Giuseppe Orlando who had to leave his place at Confcommercio, after more
than 15 years of prestigious presidency.
During the period between Orlando’s death and the
election of President Francesco Colucci the 40 years of Confcommercio’s
activity was celebrated, through the event “Wellcomm 86”, held in Rome from the
12th to the 20th April 1986.
By means of debates, conferences and cultural
activities “Wellcomm” faced the problems dealing with the Third World countries
and its repercussions in the post-industrial economy.
“Orlando’s era” continued to survive in this ideal
continuity, in which Francesco Colucci’s election matured.
Francesco Colucci (1987
- 1995)
Francesco Colucci, president of Milan’s Union, was
elected President of Confcommercio on January 21st, 1987.
Colucci pursued the following objectives: the
approval of the tertiary sector as a productive sector: the elimination of any
kind of discrimination of a legislative, administrative and fiscal nature; the
active participation in the transformation processes of society and the
relaunch of the South by means of the realization of a unique tertiary
programme.
Colucci’s commitments for the South of Italy produced
immediately its fruits: as from December 1st, 1987, an important congress was
held in the town of Sorrento, entitled “Project for the South”, which gave
indications on the possible itinerates to relaunch the South by means of the
valorisation of its cultural traditions and of its innate vocations on
“tertiary economy”.
During the first phase of Colucci’s presidency the
federation reinforced its representations with an increase in the number of
firms adhering to it.
It must also be highlighted that the start of a
process of renovation, strengthening and specialisation of the structures and
the federal services, at all levels, by means of the realisation of a network
of territorial and categorical services.
Another battle was won by Confcommercio in these
years was the one against Pannella’s referendums, who proposed the
liberalisation of licences and of opening hours of all commercial activities.
The organisational effort of the Federation and its
capillary information campaigns on public opinion produced its effect.
Against the savage liberalisation proposed by the
Radical Party, which would have produced devastating consequences on the
distributive system, more than 15 million voters freely expressed there “no”.
While Confcommercio was preparing to celebrate its 50
years of activity, Colucci’s era came to an end and on June 20th 1995 Sergio
Billè, entrepreneur and president of Fipe, was elected President, by secret
ballot.
Sergio Billè (1995
- 2005)
On 20 June 1995, Sergio
Billè, entrepreneur from Messina and President of FIPE (Italian Federation of
Bars and Catering), was elected, by secret ballot, new President of
Confcommercio. Since his first public statements, it became clear the main
features of Billè’s political strategy: achieve the full legitimacy of Confcommercio as
protagonist of the country's economic life and the assertion of the main role
of the tertiary sector as the engine of the Italian economy.
Structural reforms such as
public administration and tax system, the implementation of a modern law of
trade and tourism, the emergency of the employment in south Italy, the crimes
against traders and the finance for SMEs, was the priorities. During those
years, different issues of particular relevance for Confcommercio, but also for
the country, were discussed: trade reform, the simplification of the tax system
through the sector studies, the framework law on tourism, the introduction of
the reform of the labor market and old age pensions, the Basel 2 criteria for
access to bank credit.
Under the chairmanship of
Billè, Confcommercio became a key
interlocutor of the politically and economically world, even as the
media and the public opinion. The Annual General Meetings, involving italians
influential politicians and economists, represent an important event in the
economic landscape and national policy. The Forum in Cernobbio, organized
annually by Confcommercio since 1999, became an opportunity in which Italian
and foreign entrepreneurs, economists, government representatives,
parliamentarians, were invited to discuss national and international hot
issues. Many information campaigns and awareness activities were organized:
"Tax Day", "Crime Day”, “Euro Day”, "No Day"
(initiative against the referendum on Article 18), "Play nice” (activities
organized to respond to allegations made to traders on high prices after the
introduction of the euro).
The presidency of Sergio
Billè ended in December 2005, a year marked by important events such as the
celebration of the 60th anniversary of Confcommercio, wich included a photo
exhibition entitled "Workers Portraits” (in collaboration with the Museo
di Storia della Fotografia Fratelli Alinari) and a celebratory Confcommercio’s
stamp issued by Poste Italiane.
Ipsoa
Storia Del Commercio
Arturo Segre (Università Di Torino)
S. Lattes e C. Editori Librai della Real Casa - Torino-Genova (1923)
Lezioni Di Storia Del Commercio
Tenute Alla Bocconi
Attilio
Sampolesi Editore – Roma (1925)
Storie Settoriali -
Il Commercio - 1.3. L'eta' Preindustriale
A. Budriesi - A.
Tugnoli
Loesher Editore - Torino (1998)
Storie Settoriali - Il Commercio -
2.3. L'eta' Della Macchina
Loesher
Editore - Torino – (1998)
Il Commercio In Italia
Il
Mulino
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