Excise duties, diesel discount expires today: extension announced without a date

The seventeen-cent-per-litre cut in excise duties on diesel, in force since early August, expires today, Thursday September 10. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini has anticipated a new extension, indicating its duration in approximate terms — until almost the end of the month — without setting a date. This is reported by the Today news roundup, which carries the minister’s statements.

An extension requires a decree-law, and it cannot be ruled out that the Council of Ministers will meet precisely today. This is the mechanics of a measure that was born provisional and is renewed at close intervals: since March 2026 there have been seven general fuel discounts, at a cost of more than two billion euros, according to the reconstruction of the government dossier on high fuel prices published by Today.

From general to selective

The government has repeatedly ruled out a new discount valid for everyone and is instead working on targeted interventions for specific categories, with the hypothesis of discounted fuel vouchers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated: “Other measures are on the way, but this time they will be targeted,” as reported by ANSA.

The shift from general to selective, however, is what has not yet happened. The energy decree that should contain the category-specific measures has slipped to at least the end of the month due to lack of resources, writes Il Messaggero, citing government sources. The result is a two-stage sequence: the extension of a tool the government says it wants to abandon, while waiting for the tool meant to replace it.

On the scope of the categories to be included, Salvini expressed himself in blunt terms: “They are not second-class workers. I am convinced they will be included.” The statement, also reported by Today, indicates that the pool of beneficiaries of the targeted discount is still under internal discussion.

The constraint that comes first

The framework of the budget law, which opens in the coming weeks, has a date marked in red: September 22. That day the definitive figure on the previous year’s deficit will arrive, which will show whether Italy has remained below the threshold of 3% of gross domestic product. The country’s exit from the European excessive deficit procedure depends on it, Il Messaggero reconstructs.

This is the constraint that precedes every spending choice, including that on fuel: the available resources appear limited to the point of having already caused the energy decree to slip. Labour Minister Marina Calderone indicates action on pay packets as the budget’s priority; weighing on overall prospects is the uncertainty linked to the conflicts in the Gulf and in Ukraine, which the government itself cites as a risk factor.

What we don’t know

We do not know the exact date on which the new extension will arrive: Salvini’s indication is verbal and approximate, and until the decree is adopted there is no official deadline. We do not know whether the Council of Ministers will meet today. We do not know which professional categories will fall under the selective discount, nor how much it will be worth, nor with what funding: the energy decree does not yet have a public text and its timing has been postponed. It is not clear, from the available elements, in what setting the Prime Minister made the statement about targeted measures.

On the fiscal front, the September 22 figure is the only appointment with a certain date among those cited. The diesel measure, meanwhile, remains in force until the end of today: after that, in the absence of a new provision, the price at the pump will once again incorporate the seventeen cents.