2027 Budget Law, clash with unions opens after green light from the Quirinale

After the State General Accounting Office’s sign-off reported this morning, the 2027 Budget Law has also received the green light from the Quirinale: the text, made up of 157 articles, is now awaited in Parliament for examination. The step opens a new phase of political confrontation around the budget, shifting attention from the technical level to that of social and union reactions.

The sharpest criticism comes from Cgil and Caritas. The former accuses the measure of rewarding those who are already well off and abandoning those who are struggling: “It helps those who are well off, it abandons those who are struggling,” the union stated. Caritas, for its part, fears the budget will push toward greater privatization of services: “The risk is pushing toward the private sector,” the association said.

On the institutional dialogue front, the government has chosen to open up only to amendments requested by Cisl, leaving the other union organizations out of the discussions. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani directly contacted Cisl’s secretary, Daniela Fumarola, a gesture signaling the executive’s choice to favor a specific interlocutor in the negotiations over the budget.

The choice to engage in dialogue with a single union, while Cgil and Caritas maintain a public critical stance, outlines a divided social front around the measure. The text now arriving at the Chamber carries with it not only the technical content already discussed in recent days, but also a polarization of positions between those called to the table and those left out.

The parliamentary process for the 157 articles thus opens with a split union front: on one side, the selective opening to Cisl, on the other, the public criticism from Cgil and Caritas, which remain outside the channel of direct dialogue with the government.