Transparency Registry of the Ministry for Economic Development (IT0048)

Short description Establishment of an online registry open to any natural or legal person professionally representing legal interests within the Ministry for Economic Development, including non-economic ones. Registering is needed to be able to request a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Ministers and State Secretaries. The registry is public and accessible to everyone. Moreover, in the Minister’s, Deputy Ministers’ and State Secretaries’ personal sections, one can access the list of their meetings updated every two months. General objective Provide citizens and any other interested user with the information on who the Ministry’s interlocutors are and how they interact with it. This is meant to ensure that decision-making is all the more transparent and shared as well as foster control by citizens and users on the work of the administration. The registry is therefore intended to ensure balanced representation and avoid privileged access to information or to decision-makers. Current situation Pending the regulation of the issue of the representation of interests, the Transparency Registry of the Ministry for Economic Development is based on the model used by EU institutions and is part of the many transparency and accountability measures adopted by the Ministry. It is a new participation and control tool providing citizens with accurate information on who interacts with the Ministry. In 2014, the Ministry adopted a Code of Conduct for its employees with the purpose of establishing rules to guarantee the quality of services, corruption prevention, the fulfillment of constitutional obligations including diligence, loyalty, impartiality and exclusive service for the protection of public interests and therefore avoid wrongdoing/illegality in administrative actions, as well as define responsibilities for cases of misconduct for individuals inside and outside the Ministry. The Ministry also produced a specific Code of Conduct for the new members of the Registry who are required to give their express consent to it. The Code establishes that the members of the Registry are required to behave in compliance with the principles of loyalty, transparency and integrity, they can’t offer, accept or request money or any other sort of compensation, advantage or benefit, both directly and indirectly through intermediaries, for the purpose of registration and/or to distort proper participation. Expected results The Registry is aimed at making sure that: decisions are the result of a participatory process, considering that the Ministry and its local offices interact with a wide range of groups and organizations representing specific interests; interactions between the Ministry and its interlocutors are transparent, through the publication and updating of the profiles of such entities (activities, financial data, etc.); anyone can monitor the fairness of decision-making; citizens and users are allowed to control the work of the Administrations. Thanks to the Registry, citizens and users will have access to information regarding the interests represented within the Ministry, the financial allocations, who represents such interests and on behalf of whom.

For commitment details, see IRM Year 1 report: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/italy-mid-term-report-2016-2018-year-1/

For commitment details, download the IRM report: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/italy-end-of-term-report-2016-2018/