The South Special Economic Zone is a revolution. But watch out for income

The decision of the Italian government to make the whole of Southern Italy a “special economic zone” and the willingness of the European Commission to evaluate the Italian proposal represent a novelty whose importance would be difficult to underestimate. Compared to the choices of the last quarter of a century, they pose, with absolute clarity, the theme of the entire Mezzogiorno as an area lagging behind in development and go beyond the narrative of the “many Mezzogiorno” which has actually functioned in the last decades as a powerful anesthetic, helping to hide the reality of an area as a whole that is increasingly distant from European standards (as practically every relevant indicator reminds us). For the record: the special economic zones (Zes) are areas in which the established companies benefit from specific advantages and, in particular, from administrative simplifications (such as to determine reductions of up to a third of the terms for concluding the proceedings) and tax concessions (under form of significant reductions in the ordinary IRES rate and tax credits for the purchase of capital goods, land and buildings).