Why should we invest public resources in companies that make billions in profits while devastating the planet?
Public funds: for the common good or that of big business?
Too often, public money is used to favor interests that are not those of general public. Such interests include a small group of large companies, in which the State often has a significant share, which pursue profits without caring about the environmental and social impacts of their activities.
We cannot allow public resources and incoming European funds to be allocated according to this logic, which favors the concentration of power and environmental devastation. We do not want a recovery that follows the extractive model: we want a radical transformation in the management of public resources.
Lack of transparency in public finance
There are operations worth hundreds of millions of euros of which we know nothing. They are hidden behind complex funding schemes and institutions or deliberately kept out of the spotlight.
This is the case of SACE, the Italian export credit agency. An agency with a billion-dollar budget, which insures large Italian multinationals and their financiers against commercial and political risks, especially for projects in countries considered “at risk”. The State becomes an insurer for those who want to expand their business worldwide, so as to support “Italian champions” in a globalized world. SACE is therefore one of the nodal points of public finance in support of the “usual suspects”. We believe the time has come to tear away the veil of secrecy surrounding SACE’s activities and ensure real democratic control over its operations, holding the Italian government to account.
SACE
(Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero), the Italian export credit agency, is a very important instrument of economic policy in the hands of the government. However, very little is said publicly about its activities. SACE insures large Italian multinationals and their financiers against commercial and political risks, especially projects in countries considered “at risk”. Although formally private, the insurance it provides is largely counter-guaranteed by the Ministry of the Treasury. The State therefore becomes an insurer and supports national “champions” (see Eni, Fincantieri or Leonardo) in the often brutal challenge of economic globalization.
What we want:
- Stop public funds to fossil multinationals and to the big useless infrastructure works imposed on territories.
- Stop the public guarantees of SACE to fossil projects.
- New mechanisms of transparency and public participation for the management of public investments and European funds.
- Another model of recovery, which puts the needs of the territories at the center.
