On 13 January 2019, Sole 24 Ore, a major Italian daily newspaper specialising in business and economic news, published an article about the impact of a government nationalisation proposal in the Italian water sector.

The article describes how regulatory intervention has contributed to growth in investment levels over the last five years, and presents a series of estimates of the likely impact of the government proposal. These include the transfer of tariff-setting powers from the independent regulator (ARERA) to the Department for Environment; a mandatory move to full public ownership by 2020; increased public funding of investments; and subsidies for water consumption.

The article examines the results of Oxera’s study for Utilitalia, the association of Italian utilities, to shed light on the potential one-off and ongoing costs of the proposed law from the Italian government. The article positions Oxera at the centre of the policy debate at a key stage of the political and parliamentary decision-making process. The project was led by Director Alfredo Macchiati, Partner Dr Leonardo Mautino, Senior Consultant Pierpaolo Perna and Analyst Francesco Tucci.