ITALY- Pension regulator Covip has authorised the Marco Polo scheme, which is targeted at the 800,000-strong tourism sector, to collect contributions.

Trade unions, employers and employees have joined forces to set up the fund, which is headed by Confindustria’s director of welfare, Elio Schettino.

The 3,000-member fund aims at a membership of at least 40,000, said Raffaele Vanni, national president of the services arm of trade union UIL and member of the board of directors at the pension fund.

The future of the fund depended on how the government decided about the use of the end of career indemnity, known as Tfr.

The Italian parliament passed the pension reform in July, settling that workers should invest their Tfr in pension savings to boost the second pillar.

As the details of the reform are currently being discussed, the future development of Marco Polo hangs in the balance, Vanni told IPE.

Covip’s authorisation, he continued, had been achieved because a low membership base had been agreed as condition.

At the moment the fund has been successful among workers of large hotels and spa complexes, but it would potentially suit the many workers of small business, he said.

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