Council of Ministers meeting held on Thursday 29 November. One day early because the Premier has other commitments scheduled for tomorrow.
We discussed many things and we also held a number of side meetings outside of the Cabinet (CIPE, Arcus, 150 years of Italian unity and still more), but we also discussed a number of normal matters. However, we dealt with three issues that I believe are important enough to point out to you because perhaps they will not be part of the “official” information released. Firstly, it is the Government’s intention to implement a new Italian action plan against drug abuse, following on from the new action plan regarding housing policies, which we drew up in recent weeks.
We intend to implement a range of preliminary structural interventions over time, in order to protect the weakest social groups, because they too are in need of protection. The plan was submitted in draft form and must now be discussed by all interested parties, namely the associations, Parliament, Regional Councils and regional bodies. And so, I said to myself, why not discuss the plan directly with our employer, namely the citizens?
I am therefore publishing our Government’s proposed action plan regarding drug abuse, on my blog, so that all of you have the opportunity to read through it and make your comments, which I will summarise and certainly submit to the appropriate institutions, beginning with the Cabinet.
Read through it and help us to better carry out our duty.
The other matter we dealt with and that I would like to bring to your attention is the 2015 EXPO in Milan. We invited Mayor Moratti, as the responsible person, to identify the appropriate measures aimed at making the international, economic and institutional communities, in fact the entire world, aware that Italy, and more specifically Milan, is the right venue for the 2015 EXPO, the largest international Trade Fair for all that the world produces, or is able to produce, and thus an economic attraction for our Country, bringing with it many benefits in terms of credibility and cultural, financial and business exchanges.
It is important to do so and we decided, requesting a mutual commitment from us all (the centre-left Government, the Mayor of Milan and the centre-right Lombardy Regional Council) in order to, once and for all, present a single, united Italy to the outside world so as to put together a credible plan. You will find the plan, in its draft form, on my Blog because, here too, I believe it is important for the citizens, namely you, our employers, to have an opportunity to first read about what we are doing and give us some advice before we can do any damage. I think this is a good thing and I am posting it on the Internet so that we can discuss it. In this case also, I undertake to take back a complete summary of your comments to all of the appropriate institutions.
Another topic discussed, amongst many others, was the matter of compensation for damages to those who are victims, or even lose their lives, or are subjected to violence or threats resulting from violent sources, namely, three in particular that are seldom mentioned and tend to be confusing: victims of duty, Mafia victims and victims of terrorist action.
You will see that, as regards possible consequences, whether one is injured or killed as a result of a terrorist act, a Mafia attack or the actions of someone who is simply carrying out his/her duty, the extent of the damage remains the same. We have made provision to combine these three groups of victims, and we have also made provision for a consolidated system of compensation for damages.
Up to now we had various different systems in force. The victim of a terrorist act received a larger settlement than the victim of a Mafia attack, and both of these victims received larger settlements than did the workplace victim of duty. Were you aware of any differences? One the one hand there is the terrorist act, where the terrorist places a bomb and the person affected is a victim of terrorism. Then there is the Mafia member who demands protection payments from a company and causes it to go bankrupt. This business is the Mafia victim. Finally there is the Warrant Officer in the Carabinieri Corps who goes to the supermarket after receiving a telephone call. The criminal shoots the Warrant Officer, who is the victim by virtue of doing his duty.
At this point, we have decided to make provision for two types of compensation: a one-off payment, which is deemed to be an immediate grant, followed by an annuity for his family, otherwise how are they to survive? We have decided to combine these two types of payments in order to consolidate them, whoever is the victim, whether he7she is a victim of terrorist acts, the Mafia, or duty, because we believe that, in all thee cases, those affected are people who either give up their lives or suffer violence in order for this to be more of a Country based on the Law.
The day that there are no more victims will be the day that the Country based on the Law is functioning properly.