Golden Power

The paper deals with the increased intervention of States in the economy in a historical phase of de-globalisation and changing geopolitical balances. Tensions are arising in the relations between the European Union and the United States as a consequence of the approval of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, that encourages productive investments located in the United States, thereby altering competition. The paper dwells on the Italian “golden power” regulation that introduces public control that significantly affects freedom of enterprise. The paper ends with the hope that the increased intervention of the State will not frustrate the achievements of the regulatory State, established since the 1980s in Western countries.

The article deals with the administrative procedures for the exercise of "golden powers" by the government and the related judicial review. More specifically, such judicial review must take into account, on the one hand, the protection of national interests and, on the other, the observance of the principle of legality: the latter with particular regard to the identification of the conditions on which the exercise of such powers is based. The parameters on which judicial review is based are the principle of proportionality and respect for procedural guarantees.

The contribution analyses, in the context of the relationship between State and market, the so-called "golden power". Through an in-depth analysis both historical and of the regulatory framework, the author identifies its origins, its procedural, organizational and control modalities, as well as the prerequisites for its compatibility with the European legal system.