Aart Heering
Anyone who has visited the market in Rome or other major Italian cities in recent years will certainly have come across slogans such as NO BOLKESTEIN or NO BOLKESTEIN on walls, stalls and vans. Sciopero contro Bolkestein (strike against B.) or even Direttiva ammazza ambulant (directive kills peddlers). What did old Frits have on his conscience to antagonize those marketers like that, you wonder.
The answer lies in the European directive that the former VVD leader as European Commissioner for the Internal Market has developed. The 'Bolkestein Directive', which the European Parliament adopted in 2006, was intended to create a free market in the services sector. Including market stalls, foodtrucks and beach pavilions.
Public procurement
Under the new rules, their concessions would no longer be automatically renewed, but would have to be put out to public tenders to give new entrants a chance as well. This was an unpleasant surprise for Italy, where as a rule such concessions are given over and over again to the same operators and their close relatives. Local administrators like to leave it that way, because any change can cost votes.
European guidelines
Nevertheless, European directives must be incorporated into national legislation and that is what happened in Italy, albeit only in 2010. But liberalization is far from complete. On the contrary, the implementation of the directive must be ensured by regional and local authorities and to prevent that, market traders and beach operators have regularly taken to the streets in recent years.
Monopoly
In Rome, a member of the Tredicine family, who practically have a monopoly on the city's food trucks and chestnut pastries, was even elected to the city council. The good man has now been sentenced to three years in prison as part of the corruption investigation Capital Mafia, but the council remains on the side of the No Bolkestein activists. Especially thanks to the Five Star Movement (M5S), which is only too happy to join such protests.
50-year transition period
Last summer, at the suggestion of M5S, the Roman city council decided to automatically extend the concessions again until 2020, after which they will see again. But the left one Democratic Party can also do something about it. She has given the Italian beach operators a helping hand with an amendment to a recent tax decree, which means that the Bolkestein Directive only needs to be introduced for them 'after a transitional period of 30 to 50 years'!
Christmas Market
One of the few public tenders that did take place was the one for the Christmas market op Navona Square. In theory, old and new candidates had to submit an application, after which a municipal committee would make a choice based on impartial criteria.
However, that of 'seniority' has been chosen as the main criterion, which in practice means that newcomers have no chance. As an Italian saying goes: Fatta la legge, trovato l'inganno: Once the law is in place, we'll find a way to avoid it. And so: No Bolkestein!
Photos No Bolkestein: Aart Heering
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