Gas price cap in Council of Ministers, clash over pensions in budget law

The second Energy Bills decree arrives today, Thursday 5 November, before the Council of Ministers with a provision introducing a cap on the gas price, which the cost of electricity for households and businesses depends on. The measure had already been expected at the 28 October Council of Ministers, but was postponed due to work by the offices of the Minister for Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto, as reconstructed by il manifesto.

The measure has met opposition from Elettricità Futura, the association of electricity producers, which argues it would make businesses pay the difference with the market price. The association’s president, Salvatore Pinto, denounced government interventions in the electricity sector totalling 6-7 billion euros overall between the energy bills decree and the budget law, stating at the assembly: “The government received ill-considered advice that did not take all operators into account”, as also reported by ANSA. Pichetto stated he was close to finalizing the text after talks with the association.

On the 2027 budget law front, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reportedly indicated to Fratelli d’Italia parliamentarians not to allocate the 850 million euro fund earmarked for pensions to a new “Quota” scheme proposed by the Lega, according to reports by Repubblica and Corriere della Sera picked up by il Sussidiario. According to these reports, Deputy Economy Minister Maurizio Leo has opened to the possibility that Parliament, during examination of the budget law, might identify additional resources to ease the partial cut to indexation for pensions exceeding four times the minimum.

On the industrial front, Confindustria met with Meloni at Palazzo Chigi: president Emanuele Orsini requested extending the hyper-depreciation scheme from 2028 to 2029, as reported by MilanoFinanza. Meanwhile, the Regions, regardless of political affiliation, have warned that the funds allocated by the budget law for healthcare are insufficient, according to the roundup by Today.it.

The picture that emerges is one of negotiations on multiple parallel tracks: energy, pensions and industrial taxation are intertwined in the same parliamentary week, with the government called upon to find funding arrangements that simultaneously satisfy electricity producers, its governing ally on pensions, and the business community on hyper-depreciation.