new proposal to do away with lunch breaks

 glad you quoted the 60 % of working people..  that precludes banks, other national institutions , comunes, people like electricity companies and water companies...  politicians of all sorts...  who are basically what the comment and proposed changes were aimed at  .. so pretty well the non working population ..and i cannot see how reducing their lunch hours would make any difference..they would just extend their coffee breaks... 

Here on the outskirts of Rome, most shops and businesses close between 13.00-16.00. It is different in the center, but this is mainly tourist shops anyway. This is all fine if you just want a bit of shopping, but if you are trying to work and need parts from time to time, it's a real pain. Mark

Hi Sebastiano,the centre north is not all Italy, but only a part of this wonderful country, and if you live here, you must know that every part of Italy is characterized by different habits.Happy you find the rule right, though many others ( 40% ) don't, according your statistics - can you please mention where you picked them up from, please? 

Speaking as someone who has moved from sandwich in front of the screen in the UK to a two hour break in Sicily I kind of understand the strong reaction the minister's comments got. Judging from reports Italians seem split on the issue - and the minister's corrective statement where he said he only meant the advice for himself show how sensitive things can get around the issue. This Tiscali website poll shows that most disagree, likewise here and here. The last two links are from Como and Emilia-Romagna so while not the "shallow" north - certainly not the "deep" south  On the other hand Rotondi himself paid for a poll which (suprise, suprise) came out in his favour.However, when one then hears that the parliament lunch hour costs about 10 million a day - well banning the whole affair seems like a good idea!As for me - I will ponder further over my break today!  

Will two hour lunch breaks mean extra productivity on your return Ronald?

Tradition versus convenience and productivity?. I am used to a half hour lunch break , a quick sandwich and a fag and then back to work. Cannot cope with large amounts of food at that time of day, makes me go to sleep. But from a working in Italy view, our GP says he doesnt even eat lunch, makes him sluggish, and a friend who has a 40min drive to work and works in a govt dept says the 1.5hrs she gets is too short to return home, but not long enough in the summer to go to the beach!, it also extends the working day and she is home just in time to have supper and go to bed, ready for an early start in the morning.Just my view would be that condensing the working day is a good idea, at least then there is time to go home and enjoy the evening.A