The Italian Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali has published the paper “Il primo anno di applicazione della legge 92/2012” (the first year from enactment of Statute 92/2012): a survey on the results achieved by the labour reform in this year.

Looking at the statistics, probably the most striking figure is the number of dismissals for cause (i.e. for causes attributable to the worker) vs the number of dismissals for justified reason (i.e. for objective causes). The paper shows (p. 43) that ca. 75% of dismissals are due to justified reason, making this largely the main reason for dismissal in most cases. Apparently, there is a link between this figure and the introduction, in the Italian labour law system, of the “reasons of economy” among the possible justifications for dismissal, however, the report carefully avoids this perspective.

The labour law reform law 92/2012 can be consulted here.

This article (Is Kroes consolidation package now a dead parrot?) hits the point: fostering consolidation, in the European markets’ environments, means basically re-introducing monopolies at national levels. In other words, turning the clock back to 1995. If, despite two decades of single European market, there is no real trend for further consolidation is that, admittedly….there is no real need for it. Probably, the European telecom market structure is presently well addressed by an articulated set of cross-border and national champions. Its “workable” competition, after all: something even Chicago Boys could subscribe to.
On the other hand, probably it would be worth re-focusing on supra-national authorization sets: there is still so much to be achieved in terms of administrative simplification in this field…

(see discussion on Linkedin started by Jean-Stéphane Gourévitch)

8 January 2014 – Good news on Cyberbullying, bad news for cyberbullies.

The Italian Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico has published a consultation document that is the initial draft version of a code of ethics for Service Providers aiming at protecting young people from cyberbullying. “Cyberbullying is the use of Information Technology to harm or harass other people in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner” (cfr Wikipedia), and is one of the worrying sides of the present decay of public speech over Internet.

The document establishes a Committee made of experts taken from the stakeholders of the project : institutions (The Ministry, Agcom, Polizia postale e delle comunicazioni, Autorità per la privacy, Garante per l’infanzia e Comitato media e minori), industrial syndication (Confindustria digitale, Assoprovider ecc.) and operators(Google, Microsoft ecc.) and a principle of easy and quick reaction from qualified personnel in case of cyberbullying episodes.

This initiative is highly welcome, as this phenomenon is increasingly scary. Since 2008, 41 teenagers committed suicide admittedly due to mobbing and stalking episodes occurred while living a normal web-life (see enquiry –> here). It is hard to decide whether these (unjustifiable) deaths are “more” or “less” tragic than the effects this type of “mala educacion” is inducing in adults’ behaviours, such as the recent political mobbing cases emerged on Mr Bersani’s health conditions, or than plain religious censorship (as happened in Iran yesterday –>here).

I propose you this reflection, published in November 2012 -an Eon ago, if you want- on the “Indice dei Libri del mese” (an important literary review published in Italy) by Edoardo Villata -“La guerra di Star Trek“.

It draws an (easy?) parallel between a Star Trek Episode (the author does not quote but it refers to “A Taste of Armageddon” by Robert Hamner e Gene L. Coon, 1967) and the casualties produced by the economic crisis we’re still crawling in.

And, among the casualties, the works of art and the elements of culture that disappear because of the budget cuts. Or by the choices of budget cuts done with a warfare mindset.

Now, 1967 Star Trek was good Science Fiction, of course was no economic science. However, it included a quality that lacks to so many future-tellers of today: common sense, memory, in a word, humanity.

That’s why Science Fiction told about “future”, while Standard & Poors publications talk about “outlook”. Imagining might be very scary, if you take imagination seriously.

The Art. 29 WP has released on 3 dec. 2013 its 2-years working plan for years 2014-2015. In the document (available —> here), we can read that “The Working Party’s goal for the 2014-2015 period is to ensure a coherent and correct application of the current legal framework and to continue to prepare for the future legal framework”.

The stress placed on the current framework, while the future one is left on the background, gives room to the assumption that work around the reformed Data Protection Regulation, that shall replace the national legal framework, might again be facing some hard times. However, we might be pessimistic…

Article 29 Working Party is the European consultative body established to study improved ways of addressing privacy principles in European legislation. It is made of representatives of the Data Protection authorities of all Member States plus a representative from the Eu Data Protection Supervisor and a member of the EU Commission.

The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party was set up under the Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. It has advisory status and acts independently. (quoted from DG Justice website)

The Italian Data Protection Authority (so called “Garante per la Privacy”) has renewed the set of general authorizations for sensitive and judiciary data handling, with effect from 1/1/2014.

The set, made presently of nine general clearance orders (normally ranging from 1 to 9 -this year from 1/2013 to 9/2013-), is reviewed on a yearly basis, and regularly updated.

The new set is available on the authority’s official website (–> here)