For a few months, in conjunction with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, there had been discussions on the possibility of postponing the cut in the personnel of the armed forces. The chamber had already approved in April the amendment that extended the deadline for reducing the organic strength of our defense from 2024 to 2033.
On August 3, the Senate approved the bill with 196 votes in favor. Minister Guerini stated that it is "un decisive step forward in the process of reform of the military instrument which will make it possible to recruit younger personnel for operational activities, with better career and salary prospects, introducing the necessary gradualness in the achievement of the reduction targets set by law 244 of 2012 ".
Now the legal rule will have to be applied. According to the text of the law, the government will be able to increase the staff of volunteers in fixed term and specialized technical personnel (doctors, engineers, etc ...) up to a maximum of ten thousand units, the establishment of a selected reserve up to a maximum of ten thousand units.
However, the reform that most affects the defense structure concerns the recruitment of volunteers. In fact, the VFP1 and VFP4 formulas are abandoned and will be replaced by a single three-year stop (VFI - Volunteers in initial pre-fixed stop) and a subsequent one for a further 3 years (VFT - Volunteers in fixed three-year stop) with direct entry to the permanent service.
The duration of the stops can be extended, with the consent of the interested parties, for the time strictly necessary for the completion, respectively, of the competition procedure of those who have submitted an application for recruitment as volunteers on a three-year firm basis or of the procedures for transit in the roles of volunteers on permanent service.
The detention period to access the permanent service will pass from the current 11 years to 6 years and the age limits (24 years) for entry to the initial careers will be reduced, which would lead to an improvement in the functional and operational aspect of the armed forces.
At an economic-financial level, the changes concern the acknowledgment of the recovery of the holiday to all the Volunteers who will work on holidays, the VFTs will be paid the remuneration for overtime work (today it is not up to the VFP4), the payment, to the VFI, a lump-sum allowance of € 100, in lieu of compensation for hours exceeding weekly working hours. Furthermore, the salary parameter will be adjusted to that of graduated to the extent of 81.5% for VFI and 80% for VFT.
The reform is the result of an amendment to the Military Code in 2010. The first change took place in 2012 with the "Di Paola law" (Law 244/2012, unanimously approved) which delegated to the government the task of reconsider the military instrument by bringing to a reduction in the staffing of military personnel of the army, navy and air force, by 2024, to a total of 150.000 units. The implementing decree of this law, approved in 2014, also contained a time schedule which provided that the defense staff would be constituted until 2015 of 190 units, 170 units in 2016 and 150 by 1 January 2025. This reform, however, moves to 2033 (and does not "eliminate", ndd) the reduction of personnel envisaged by the “Di Paola law”.
Also the Minister of Defense affirmed that the measure "It also provides for the establishment of an auxiliary state reserve and the reform of military health, finally introducing the possibility of intervening with flexibility measures in the equipment of the individual armed forces in relation to the operational needs of a modern military instrument".
Photo: Ministry of Defense
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