Taxes and international Free Port of Trieste: why victory is near

Analysis by Paolo G. Parovel

Trieste, 29 June 2021 – The first of the three civil lawsuits initiated by the I.P.R. F.T.T. – International Provisional Representative of the Free Territory of Trieste versus the Italian Government for the demonstration of the taxation rights of Trieste and of its international Free Port has reached the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation.

We are publishing the appeal in English (LINK) and in Italian (LINK), because it clarifies well how things are: the rights, the international obligations of Italy and of the Italian Government, their violation, and the functioning of the system of corruption that sabotages them.

The result of a professional, long, tireless work for Trieste is near: it is an unprecedented work, and it is putting an end to decades of mistakes, misinformation, inertia, and useless political chattering.

Indeed, the appeal before the Court of Cassation is a decisive step to obtain justice and, if not, to access the competent European and international Courts, where the ultimate victory is certain.

Ultimate victory is certain before those Court because the lawsuits seek compliance with the rights on taxation and on the international Free Port that are assigned to Trieste, and for the advantage of all other States, by international instruments that are in force and upper-ranking even within the Italian and the European legal order.

Furthermore, the new Euro-Atlantic defenses initiated by the US with the G7 and NATO summits held on 11-14 June 2021 do also include the development of the economic role of Trieste and of its international Free Port for the stabilization of Central-Eastern Europe.

The remaining obstacles derive only from the political, administrative, and judicial bodies of the Italian administration of Trieste, which refuse to implement the law in force on this subject due to their submission to a local, parasitic system of corruption that manipulates also the media.

This is why the judicial strategy of the I.P.R. F.T.T. and of the Free Trieste Movement consists in forcing the political, administrative, and judicial local bodies that refuse to demonstrate and to implement the laws, which are in force, to expose themselves and to ultimately have them convicted also by European and international authorities.

To do so, the two organizations have based the defense of the rights of Trieste on three civil lawsuits for demonstration, which are now pending in three different instances of judgment and are already supported by a total of more than 1600 interventions of physical and legal persons from Trieste and from other States.

The first lawsuit, initiated in May 2017, regards the general tax regime (LINK), and it is the one pending before the Court of Cassation, which means the last instance of judgment prior to European and International Courts.

The second lawsuit, initiated in November 2018, regards the in-implementability of the Italian IVA – VAT (Value Added Tax) in Trieste (LINK), the decision in first instance is near, and, if a negative one, the appeal shall be immediate.

Finally, the third lawsuit, initiated in December 2019, challenges the current incorrect management of the international Free Port and also the illegitimate agreements with the communist China (LINK), it is still in the preliminary stage, the next hearing to be held in November 2021, and people, organizations, and companies can still join it (LINK).

In all three lawsuits the Judges of the Italian administration of Trieste are requested to demonstrate and to duly implement the very Italian laws, in force and upper-ranking in the Italian legal order, that regard this subject.

Instead, the local system of corruption demands the Judges to refuse the demonstration and implementation of the law recalling old, nationalistic political theses based on gross mystification of the principles and instruments of international law.

It is mystifications invented and forced, after 1947, by the political school of nationalistic professors A.E. Cammarata and M. Udina, and they are destroyed to the ground, step by step, in the appeal to the Court of Cassation that is now published with this article.

This means that the victory in the first lawsuit, either before the Court of Cassation before the European and International Courts, is to overwhelm also any eventual negative decision of the Courts in charge of the remaining two lawsuits.

For those reasons, and in view of the most recent international developments, is has also become evident the opportuneness that the administering Italian Government takes care to re-establish the rule of law in Trieste and in the management of the international Free Port of Trieste without waiting for the Court’s decisions.

Essentially, the final victory is certain no matter what, because the legal battle is based on the strongest foundations, it is aligned with the new Euro-Atlantic strategies, and its sorely needed to transform the fortunes of Trieste, of all of its citizens and residents, and of its enterprises.

At this point, it is enough that the two proposing organizations, the I.P.R. F.T.T. and the Free Trieste Movement, step up their effort with perseverance and firmness, preventing the counter maneuvers of the local system of corruption.

This battle for the rights and against corruption is not an act of subversion, it is an act of lawfulness, it has nothing to do with political parties and elections, none of which offers effective solutions to poverty, unemployment, and to the crisis of businesses. And the difference is going to be very meaningful for all.

Because at this point only the re-establishment of a fair taxation and the effective development of the international Free Port can grant the survival of our always too many people, families, and businesses that face tremendous difficulty.

This is why to the citizens, residents, and businesses that are going to enjoy out ultimate victory we only ask to support this legal battle following it with faith and attention, to share and to help spread news about it, to join it, and, if possible, to help with donations (LINK) the costs of the lawsuits, which are significant, even if the work of both organizations is all done by volunteers.

Focusing energies and resources on this legal battle is the only meaningful investment available today for Trieste, because the benefits it offers are effective and granted by the law.

Indeed, Trieste is exempted by law from the payment of the massive public debt and burdensome taxes of the Italian State, and it has the right to its own, separate State budget. This means Trieste is entitled to a much lighter tax regime, with relevant and immediate advantages for all enterprises, for the value of wages and pensions, and also for social assistance and healthcare.

Furthermore, the law rules that the international Free Port of Trieste be managed by a Director of the Free Port, who cannot be a citizen of Italy or of former Yugoslavia, and who works without interferences from local politicians and authorities, rather, under the direct authority of the administering Government and of an International Commission.

The effective difference respect to the current management, assigned to an Italian port authority that is is not only subject to the interferences of local politicians and authorities, but limits the implementation of the International Free Port regime and is letting it be reduced as part of an illegal housing speculation, is the establishment of hundreds of new businesses and thousand of new jobs, direct and indirect.

Again, to put an end to those ruinous abuses on taxes and against the port it is necessary acting as responsible citizens, because complaining about them is not enough, and it is unreasonable relying on the very political establishment that, with either its ineptitude, irresponsibility, or corruption, lets the abuses continue.

And acting as responsible citizens per Trieste does not mean fueling resentment of planning revolutions, rather, the opposite: standing for legality as firmly as possible, with intelligence, perseverance, and supporting those who are in first line also for those who cannot do the same.

Author of the English version: Silvia Verdoljak.

© 29 Giugno 2021