Avoiding any dramatisation and boosting the supervision of compliance with the EU regulations on free competition. This is the line of action which has been chosen by Barroso’s Commission following these days’ controversies about the checks on the tax treatment granted to non-profit agencies and religious associations in Italy. A matter that is still the focus of debate in Brussels today and on the international media. The spokesperson for the Executive, Johannes Laitenberger, stated that "the accusation that the Commission is being disrespectful to the Church is absolutely groundless". According to José Manuel Barroso’s press agent, the work carried out so far "shows that the Commission respects the EU law". "A petition has been submitted, and it must be addressed by the EU Commission as any other petition"; the check and protection of the EU regulations is, according to Laitenberger, "in everyone’s interest". Jonathan Todd, spokesperson for the Competition MEP Neelie Kroes, said, instead, that "such situation should not be dramatised", since "there are no investigations under way". "Any inquiry will exclusively concern the business activities of the Church" to prevent "distorting competition" and the free market.
