In Italy, investments in the cultural sector are mainly public and are carried out through forms of direct and indirect financing. They are allowed, above all, by the resources deriving from general tax revenues and are directed through specific destination constraints by the State, Regions and local authorities towards cultural activities, bodies and organizations. Investments are also allowed by the system of tax relief for donations or investments in the cultural sector, which are discussed in paragraph 4.1.4. (Tax laws) and in chapter 7.1.
The proceeds deriving from the management of the nearly 500 state institutions and places of public culture are used differently depending on whether the management is carried out independently or not. Such proceeds are, in any case, intended for the implementation of interventions regarding the protection, operation, use, enhancement, expropriation and purchase of cultural assets. The system is even more complex with reference to other public places of culture (over 4.000), managed directly or indirectly by Regions, Provinces and Municipalities, or by other public entities, which use the resources they derive from management and the additional resources of their budgets, especially for the management, increase and enhancement of the cultural heritage. Local public entities and private owners can contribute in various partnership forms to the protection, management and enhancement of the cultural heritage of the Nation (publicly or privately owned), and the Ministry of Culture can contribute to conservation interventions on privately owned cultural assets, both in the event that such interventions are imposed by the Ministry of Culture and when they are voluntary.
An important share of public investment in culture is owed to continental resources, particularly the European structural and investment funds, which have dedicated significant resources to the issue, albeit with very variable approaches. Italy’s programming cycle for the period 2021/27 is still being defined, but it should amount to a total of 43 billion euros, which, with national funding, will reach over 75 billion euros. Of the ten National Operative Programmes (PON) proposed by Italy, one is expressly dedicated to culture, as was the case in the previous cycle (2014/20), during which the National Operative Programme “Culture and Development”, within the framework of the Europe 2020 Strategy, has been allocated 490.9 million euros. The resources were then used in 39 regional programmes, according to whether the region was qualified as less developed, in transition, or more developed[1].
- Subsidiarity in the support of cultural heritage (outline)
The great role of public support, on the one hand, makes it difficult to precisely calculate its size, given the large number and heterogeneity of the budgets involved (just think that almost a third of the 8,000 Italian municipalities are involved in at least one museum structure). On the other hand, the large cultural sector, which is difficult to even undisputedly define or delimit, is inevitably affected by the cyclical trends in public investments. In general, many studies agree in estimating that the Italian share of public spending and investment destined to culture up to 2019 was lower than the European Union average amount, and below that of other countries such as Spain, Germany and France. This leads the public debate on culture to not infrequently consider private involvement as an economic and financial partnership. However, as mentioned earlier, the cultural heritage in Italy is not only publicly owned (at a constitutional level it is referred to as an asset “of the Nation”). Furthermore, subsidiarity is a constitutional principle of the Italian Republic and, therefore, it is not only for economic reasons that the law provides for various tools to involve citizens and businesses in the commitments it requires. In particular, the most recent legislation:
- has innovated the discipline of sponsorship in the cultural field, which can consist of support through money or services, not only by structuring the legal relationship in a real contractual type, but also by providing very simple and rapid procedures for soliciting and identifying sponsors;
- has provided for simplified and specific forms of partnership with private individuals, different from those (institutional and contractual, and concessions) which have been used for some time in the competitive markets for public works and services;
- has disciplined with particular attention the phenomenon of “social enterprise” that carries out on a permanent and main basis one or more business activities which are of general interest, non-profit and pursue civic, solidarity and social utility purposes. The activities permitted by law include, among others, those relating to the “protection and valorisation of the cultural heritage and the landscape”, the “organization and management of cultural, artistic or recreational activities of social interest” and the “organization and management of tourism activities of social, cultural or religious interest”. Social enterprises, in addition to a particularly favorable fiscal and tax treatment, can establish privileged relationships with public bodies, through forms of co-programming, co-planning and accreditation;
- has involved, adding to their missions also the commitment to cultural heritage, particular institutions, such as the Chambers of Commerce, endowed with functional autonomy under public law but representative of private companies, or the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo, a financial instrumental body of the State.
The phenomenon of “Fondazioni bancarie” (“Banking Foundations”) is older, as it refers to private legal entities born from the transformation of the banking system at the end of the 1900s. These kind of foundations, even if they are private ones, pursue social utility purposes, are non-profit and can act in the “arts and cultural assets and activities” sector. For these reasons, they can enter into agreements with public entities to support interventions for the enhancement of cultural heritage, starting from their programming, and since they make important investments in the cultural sector. However, they are mainly concentrated in the centre / north of the country and they contribute to the territorial gap.
It is difficult, on the other hand, to establish a complete and operational discipline on cultural and creative enterprises, to which various investment and support operations are addressed, such as, for example, “Cultura Crea”, a programme aimed at the creation and development of companies “in the cultural industries”.
2. Specific support tools
In Italy, as in other countries, since 1996 a part of the revenues generated by games and lotteries has been destined to the cultural sector. Important interventions have been made possible due to this mechanism (among the best known, those relating to the Egyptian Museum of Turin, the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, the Domus Aurea in Rome, the Certosa di San Martino in Naples, and the Arch of Trajan in Benevento). In a quarter of a century, the budget drawn from this reservoir has been variable, but, after a major decrease, it has been significantly increased since 2019.
Liberal donations in favor of culture made by private individuals were encouraged with the so-called “Art bonus” (see chapter 4.1.4 and 7.3). Among the specific funds, noteworthy examples are: the Fund for the protection of cultural heritage established in 2016 with an initial endowment of 100 million euros; the Strategic Plan “Major Cultural Heritage Projects”, established in 2014 with the aim of identifying assets or sites of exceptional cultural interest and of national significance, for which it is necessary and urgent to carry out organic interventions of protection, redevelopment, enhancement and cultural promotion, also for tourism purposes; the progenitor was the Great Pompeii Project, approved by a specific legislative act in 2011, an extraordinary programme of conservation, prevention, maintenance and restoration interventions, worth 105 million euros between ERDF and national funds.
Lastly, there are the resources allocated by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) in favour of the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage, included in the third component of Mission 1 of the Plan, entirely dedicated to Tourism and Culture 4.0, among the sectors most affected by the pandemic.
[1] The funded projects are available on the website: https://opencoesione.gov.it/it/progetti/?q=&selected_facets=focus:cultura&selected_facets=is_pubblicato:1&selected_facets=ciclo_programmazione:2
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