‘Anti-FlixBus’ decree cancelled

What has been dubbed the ‘anti-FlixBus’ decree in Italy has been cancelled, according to the operator. On 21 February 2017, the ‘Milleproroghe’ Decree was approved by the Italian Government, which included an amendment that would make FlixBus’s operation’s in the country affectively illegal. The company has worked with the national authorities and media, who it says have sided with it in its push to cancel the decree. On 2 March 2017, the Italian Government stated: ‘The anti-FlixBus amendment will be cancelled.’

On 30 March 2017, political magazine ‘Strade’ held a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies to discuss the FlixBus case in defence of free market economy. At the conference, an online petition collecting over 50,000 signatures in a few hours was launched (www.change.org/FlixBus). On 5 April 2017, it was announced the pro-FlixBus amendment will not be included in the original decree, but the Government claims it may be inserted in the DL Enti Locali (Draft Law on Local Authorities) after Minister of Economics and Finance Carlo Calenda declared the Government is committed to finding a solution. On 10 April, the petition came close to 60,000 signatures.