On Thursday, January 15, LUISS held a conference on The fight against corruption in public administration, local authorities and in business. Comparing experiences: a round table in the conference series on the paths of lawfulness, coordinated by Professor Paola Severino, LUISS professor of Criminal Law and vice provost of the university.
Speakers at the round table included the minister for public administration, Marianna Madia; president of the National Anti-corruption Authority (ANAC), Raffaele Cantone; the mayor of Turin and president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), Piero Fassino; vice president of Confindustria, Antonello Montante; and, as moderator, the editor-in-chief of Corriere della Sera, Ferruccio De Bortoli.
After the opening remarks of the provost, Massimo Egidi, and of the president of LUISS, Emma Marcegaglia (who emphasized that corruption is one of the biggest obstacles to the country’s economic growth), Professor Severino began the conference by reiterating the importance of the university’s role in spreading a culture of respect for the law.
Minister Madia clarified that the government’s objectives point towards structural reforms that make legislation simpler and clearer for procurement, labor, public employment and public services. The president of ANAC, Cantone, then explained that these reforms should focus just as much on repression as on prevention of corruption, thanks to mechanisms of control and transparency regarding procurement and public administration.
The intervention of the mayor of Turin, Fassino, highlighted the municipalities’ role in the fight against corruption through training tools and maximum transparency in the local public sector, while the vice president of Confindustria, Montante, reiterated the need for a public and private dialogue to begin the necessary simplification process.
At the end of the conference, Professor Severino spoke once again, introducing the importance of establishing an index to measure corruption and transparency for each public entity: "To understand Italy and the true degree of corruption, we must provide reliable indicators."