By Alina Trabattoni

ROME (MNI) – Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s labour reform
package won solid final approval in parliament Wednesday, which should
strengthen his hand at this week’s EU summit.

The legislation relaxes firing procedures and widens unemployment
benefits from 2017 on. It also seeks to implement mechanisms to prevent
companies from taking advantage of temporary hiring schemes to avoid
taking on full-time workers.

The measures were passed with 393 votes in support, 74 votes
against and 46 abstentions. Monti had sought support from parties
backing his technocratic government ahead of the summit, where southern
European leaders will ask for aid amid a general discussion on the
future of the single currency.

The measures have attracted much criticism since they were proposed
earlier this year and their passage through parliament in recent weeks
has watered down the original version, leading business groups to doubt
their effectiveness. Yet trade unions still complain that they go too
far.

“This is a commitment we made to Europe, and we are carrying out
our obligations,” said Benedetto Della Vedova, a member of parliament
for the small centre-right FLI party. “We need to be aware this is not
going to solve Italy’s problems with a magic wand.”

After today’s final vote in the lower house of parliament, Monti
will be able to demonstrate in Brussels his government’s commitment to
structural reforms to bolster growth.

EU leaders will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss the future of
the single currency and to agree on measures to bolster the ailing
Eurozone economy.

Last week, Monti hosted a meeting here with his French, Spanish and
German counterparts, at which the leaders agreed on growth-boosting
measures worth E130 billion or 1% of Eurozone GDP.

Monti is trying to avoid Italy becoming the next victim of the
crisis. A E35 billion austerity package introduced earlier this year has
failed to convince financial markets. Nor has Monti been unable to
stimulate growth or shield government borrowing costs from contagion
from the Spanish banking crisis.

The labour reform seeks to limit the protection employees, mostly
older ones, enjoy through guaranteed open-ended work contracts. The end
result has been to penalize young jobseekers, who are either excluded
from the market or forced to accept short-term contracts with little job
security.

The package allows employees to be laid off if a company is facing
financial difficulties, which was not possible before. However, workers
will still be able to fight dismissals in local courts and to seek
compensation. As such, it has resulted in complaints not only from
employers and employees, but also from politicians purporting to protect
workers’ rights.

“There is no point in pretending that this is actually introducing
positive change,” charged Italy of Values party leader Antonio DiPietro
in a speech prior to the vote. “The only thing this is doing is to make
the situation worse.”

[TOPICS: M$I$$$,MT$$$$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$]