Salaries of up to 10 thousand euros net per month for employees of the municipality of only 1,700 inhabitants, and two city councilors write to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. It happens in Campione d’Italia, a small Italian town of 1,700 inhabitants and 14 municipal employees, which has the geographical peculiarity of being entirely surrounded by Swiss territory (but the flag is always the Tricolore).
The decidedly higher standard of living than the Italian average in Campione d’Italia is nothing new, if only due to the presence of the famous casino of which the administration is the sole shareholder which, in the golden times (i.e. before the dramatic bankruptcy of 2018) had guaranteed unparalleled well-being compared to the rest of the province of Como of which it is part. But now, with the administration having gone through very difficult years after the collapse of the gambling house due to the lack of millionaire revenues, the ‘golden salaries’ preserved by the city hall employees are once again causing discussion. We attach below the full letter from the two Campione city councilors sent to the President of the Republic in which those salaries are defined – which in summary remain linked to the cost of living in the Canton of Ticino and not to the Italian one, with calculations officially regulated by laws in force – “anachronistic and arbitrary”.
To HE, the President of the Italian Republic
Prof. Dr. Sergio Mattarella
Quirinale Palace
Rome
Dear President,
the previous peculiarity of the territory of the Municipality of Campione d’Italia is known where for some time provisions have been issued aimed at defining the salary levels of public employees operating in the territory.
The territory of the Municipality of Campione d’Italia, being entirely surrounded by Swiss jurisdiction (despite being part of the Province of Como and the Italian Republic), has a particular geographical location: in fact, it was also considered such by the non-customs community legislation as fell in an area considered the reference customs area of the Swiss Confederation, but is now integrated into the EU borders with Directive (EU) 2019/475 of the Council of 18 February 2019, amending Directives 2006/112/EC and 2008/118/EC for as regards the inclusion of the Italian municipality of Campione d’Italia and the Italian waters of Lake Lugano in the customs territory of the Union and in the territorial scope of Directive 2008/118/EC;
In declared application of the legislation in force, a first decree was issued to public employees operating in the territory of the exclave, given the identical legal and factual conditions, with a provision from the Ministry of the Interior which regulated the gross annual salary established by the art. 33 Presidential Decree 268/87, providing in art. 2 the exclave allowance attributed according to art. 2 of the Interministerial Decree n. 15700.I.A6.106 of 13.06.1986 (DOC.N.4);
In particular:
* the Ministry of the Interior, General Directorate of Civil Administration, with communication dated 21 November 1990 transmitted the Interministerial Decree of 9.10.1990 with which, in implementation of the art. 62 of the Presidential Decree of 01.01.1986, took steps to determine the economic treatment of the employees of the Municipality of Campione d’Italia with effect from 1 January 1986. Schedule from Ccnl Personal allowance from 4000 to 5000 chf and exclave allowance from 5,000 to 6,000 chf for a net monthly total per employee between 8,000 chf and 13,000 chf.
* said interministerial provision explicitly acknowledged in the premises that, by virtue of the “… particular geographical situation and the Swiss economic context in which the Municipality of Campione d’Italia is inserted where the current currency is the Swiss Franc…” and with express reference to previous interministerial decree of 13 June 1986 issued in implementation of the art. 35 Presidential Decree n. 347/83 (See doc.n.4), the “…need to create an economic remuneration structure for the aforementioned personnel which, although inspired by the principles of equalization and homogeneity pursued by Presidential Decree 05.30.1987 n.268, was confirmed , takes into account the higher cost of living resulting from the particular economic context in which said local authority is located”;
* – on the date of issue of the aforementioned Ministerial Decree, the Municipality of Campione d’Italia was the only Civil Public Administration present in the municipal territory with the exception of ASL 80 (today Ats Insubria with headquarters in Campione d’Italia Corso Italia n. 10) which, with internal measures, immediately implements, in its entirety, the salary supplement for its employees which they still receive today;
* the Carabinieri for the military personnel serving in the nucleus based in Campione d’Italia, first with direct economic intervention of the Municipality of Campione d’Italia, then with decentralized bargaining of the competent Ministry, receive a similar border allowance in consideration of the activity carried out in an exclave;
* The Municipality of Campione d’Italia already with resolution CC 32 of 12.19.2012 had issued “a remuneration structure for general practitioners that takes into account the higher cost of living deriving from the peculiar economic context in which they operate, by the Municipality of Campione d’Italia will be recognized in addition to the economic treatment provided by the ACN, a monetary allowance” and which the current Municipal Administration has confirmed, recalculating the amount with effect from 1.1.2023, “in the amount of Chf 4000 for Doctors of general medicine” present in the municipal area of Campione d’Italia.
* On the other hand, other PAs present in the municipal territory do not pay these benefits to their employees, among them the Monopolies and Customs Agency present with an office in Campione d’Italia since the year of entry into the EU of the territory (perhaps the non-payment is implemented in the correct logic that the territory of Campione d’Italia today or rather from 2020 is on a par with any border municipality such as Como or Uggiate Trevano)
* From old legal opinions on the salary situation for the purposes of evaluating the legal content it would emerge that…”the so-called exclave allowance would consist of a specific indemnity provided for the inconvenience caused to the Municipality’s employees in consideration of the particular situation in which the Municipality finds itself itself…” and again “…the attribution of the exclave allowance should be paid to all those Public Bodies located in the territory of the Municipality of Campione d’Italia”.
As regards the above, it is clear that the Municipality of Campione d’Italia is inserted in a socio-economic context that is no longer Swiss due to the evident inclusion of the entity within the EU borders with Directive (EU) 2019/475 of the Council of 18 February 2019, amending the Directives 2006/112/EC and 2008/118/EC as regards the inclusion of the Italian municipality of Campione d’Italia and the Italian waters of Lake Lugano in the customs territory of the Union and in the territorial scope of the 2008 Directive /118/EC.
It therefore remains embarrassing to verify that for over four years since joining the EU the employees of the Municipality of Campione continue to receive salaries of over 10,000.00 euros net per month, perhaps but not even too justifiable before due to the different economic context but anachronistic and arbitrary for the entire public finance with irrationality that 14.5 municipal employees cost almost 2,700,000.00 euros per year which corresponds to almost a third of the contribution that the state annually pays to the Municipality, law and contribution ex Lege in force until 2043 – emblematic that the general secretary of the municipality receives a much higher salary than HE the prefect of Como.
For completeness of information, entry into the EU has led to the nationalization of car license plates and other legal economic factors but coincidentally not the stellar salaries of municipal employees.
We ask for your highest authoritative intervention since today the employees of the casino, a company 100 percent owned by the Municipality, the employees of the corporate structures and are not subject to salaries in line with the Italian ones as they are subject to this change.
As can be seen, a world of a privileged few has been created and a world (almost all) of people who struggle since the country has been in economic crisis since 2018 and taxes are ex Lege at most
The municipal administration, requested several times by the council group that I represent, has never intervened on the matter.
In a world of cutting waste and budget cuts due to economic difficulties and crisis, it seems necessary to request authoritative institutional intervention.
With observance
Campione d’Italia City Council Group
Champion 2.0
Simone Verda Gianluca Marchesini
