Servizi pubblici locali: concorrenza, regolazione e intervento pubblico

Local public services heavily affect the quality of life with an impact upon local development. Since they are often natural monopolies, they have been typically heavily regulated. Starting in the 1990s, a reform process in Italy aimed at liberalizing them. Its concrete steps have not taken adequately into account the potential opposition from relevant stakeholders and have established too weak and too local regulatory bodies. Recent reforms aimed at re-enforcing the competitive orientation of the legal frame. However, they do not appear to tackle the issues of establishing well functioning and independent regulatory bodies and of financing infrastructures.