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COST OF LIVING

Energy crisis: Italy’s outgoing PM pledges more help with soaring prices

Italy's government agreed a new 14-billion-euro package of measures on Friday to ease the pressure of energy bills on businesses and households, before elections.

Published: 16 September 2022 18:23 CEST
Energy crisis: Italy's outgoing PM pledges more help with soaring prices
Italy's Prime Minister, Mario Draghi announced new measures intended to offset the rising cost of living at a press conference following a cabinet meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome. (File photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)

The new aid bill was approved on top of 52 billion euros already allocated “that puts us among the countries that have spent the most in Europe,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

READ ALSO: How much are energy bills rising in Italy?

Measures to come under the government’s decreto aiuti ter, or ‘third aid decree’, include the extension of a tax credit for companies to the end of 2022, and a state guarantee for those that take out loans to bridge any liquidity issues caused by rising bills.

Ministers also agreed a 150-euro cost of living ‘bonus’ for those with an annual income of less than 20,000 euros before tax, including pensioners, which will apply to around 22 million people.

There are also funds for the health and agricultural sectors, sport, education, cinemas and theatres, and public transport.

The 12-month inflation rate in Italy rose again in August to 8.4 percent, a new record since 1985, according to figures published Friday by Istat, the national statistics agency.

The spiralling cost of living has been a major issue in the campaign for elections, which opinion polls suggest will hand an easy victory to the right-wing coalition led by far-right leader Giorgia Meloni.

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EU

Italy’s Meloni hopes EU ‘understands message’ from voters

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she hoped the European Union would understand the "message" sent by voters in last weekend's elections, after far-right parties such as hers made gains.

Published: 15 June 2024 17:33 CEST
Italy's Meloni hopes EU 'understands message' from voters

Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which performed particularly well in the vote, urged the EU to “understand the message that has come from European citizens”.

“Because if we want to draw lessons from the vote that everything was fine, I fear it would be a slightly distorted reading,” she told a press conference at the end of a G7 summit in Puglia.

“European citizens are calling for pragmatism, they are calling for an approach that is much less ideological on several major issues,” she said.

Meloni’s right-wing government coalition has vehemently opposed the European Green Deal and wants a harder stance on migration.

“Citizens vote for a reason. It seems to me that a message has arrived, and it has arrived clearly,” she said.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the top jobs, including whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will get a second term.

Von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party strengthened its grip with the vote, but her reconfirmation is not yet in the bag.

The 65-year-old conservative was in Puglia for the G7 and likely used the summit to put her case to the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.

But Meloni refused to be drawn on whom she is backing.

“We will have a meeting on Monday, we’ll see,” she told journalists.

“We will also see what the evaluations will be on the other top roles,” she said.

Italian political watchers say Meloni is expected to back von der Leyen, but is unlikely to confirm that openly until Rome locks in a deal on commissioner jobs.

“What interests me is that… Italy is recognised for the role it deserves,” she said.

“I will then make my assessments.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani indicated that it was unlikely any decision would be made before the French elections on June 30 and July 7.

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