Bonometti: anti-industrial culture returns, Parliament must improve the text

Milan, 1 October 2018 – The class action reform currently under discussion in Parliament reflects an anti-industrial culture, the same that characterised the Dignity Decree. Confindustria Lombardia, in line with territorial associations and Confindustria nationally, has highlighted three critical points that risk making businesses sacrificial lambs for class actions: the expansion of the scope of application, the change to the individual opt-in procedure, the introduction of incentives for litigation, and the retroactivity of the new regulations.

Confindustria Lombardia President Marco Bonometti commented sternly: “The anti-industrial culture that characterised the Dignity Decree has reappeared in this class action reform proposal. Confindustria Lombardia hopes that parliamentarians, from both the majority and the opposition, starting with those from Lombardy, will work to improve a text that, as it stands, risks indiscriminately increasing litigation. Furthermore, the section regarding compensation has an evident punitive intent towards businesses and could transform class action from a protective mechanism into a business tool,” added Bonometti, who also stressed that “retroactivity is completely unjustifiable. Under this rule, businesses could be exposed to class action litigation for events that occurred up to 10 years ago,” concluded the President of Confindustria Lombardia.

Attachments

• CS_CLASS_ACTION_DEF_1Oct2018.pdf