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Italy Thursday, 17 September 2026 · AI-generated content, without human review

Electoral law, debate in the Chamber starts on September 28

Minister Ciriani announces the schedule for the passage through the Chamber: general debate from September 28, final vote expected in the first week of October.

Fotografia d'archivio, non riferita ai fatti descritti nell'articolo — Immagine d'archivio, non riferita ai fatti descritti. Foto di Christian Wasserfallen su Pexels

The Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani has released the schedule for the passage through the Chamber of the electoral law reform. According to what was announced, the conference of group leaders has established that the general debate on the measure will begin on Monday, September 28. Ciriani also indicated that the final vote is expected in the first week of October. The announcement came on the sidelines of the “Risorsa Mare” forum, held in La Spezia.

The schedule set by the conference of group leaders provides a precise timeline for a parliamentary passage that, until this announcement, had no fixed date for the start of the examination in the Chamber. The general debate is the phase that precedes the examination of the articles and amendments in the Chamber, before the concluding vote on the text.

Ciriani’s indication gives, for the first time, a precise timeframe to the parliamentary passage of the reform: the date of September 28 for the start of the debate and the window of early October for the concluding vote.

Some elements that the announcement does not specify remain to be seen: the expected duration of the general debate, the number of amendments that the parliamentary groups intend to submit, and whether the window indicated for the final vote, the first week of October, corresponds to a date already agreed upon with the group leaders or remains a political estimate by the minister.

The setting in which the announcement was made — a forum dedicated to the topic of the sea, not a parliamentary venue — signals that this was a political statement made on the sidelines of a different event, not a formal communication to Parliament. The measure now faces examination in the Chamber according to the schedule just released, and the coming weeks will show whether that schedule will be confirmed in the Chamber’s proceedings.

Former Ilva, Court of Appeal upholds hot-end shutdown: Supreme Court to rule October 20

Ilva and Acciaierie d'Italia's request for a stay was rejected: the shutdown remains set for October 28. Meanwhile the first layoffs begin among supply-chain workers and the government postpones the expected decree.

On August 29 we reported how decree-law 154/2026 had shortened the duration of sureties on internal landfills without however addressing the issue of the industrial structure, leaving the October 28 deadline for shutting down the hot end unchanged (we wrote about it here). On September 11, 2026 that deadline received judicial confirmation: the Milan Civil Court of Appeal rejected the request for a stay filed by Ilva and Acciaierie d’Italia under extraordinary administration, according to ANSA. In its reasoning, the Court wrote that “the right to health prevails over the business.”

The matter is not settled here. Five days later, the Court of Cassation scheduled the discussion of the extraordinary appeals against the Milan ruling, setting the date for the public hearing of October 20, 2026 before the Civil United Sections, as reported again by ANSA. Eight days remain between the hearing and the October 28 deadline: a narrow margin for any possible intervention by the Supreme Court before the plants are shut down.

On the employment front, the affair has already had concrete effects. On September 4 dismissal letters were sent to 2,500 former Ilva workers, while around 3,000 employees are already on redundancy fund schemes, according to documentation from TarantoToday. The figures concern the supply chain linked to the plant, not the group’s entire workforce.

On the government front, the decree-law expected at the Council of Ministers has been postponed pending the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the request to extend the hot-end shutdown, as confirmed by PeaceLink. The Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, explained that the measure is “already drafted, it will be resubmitted as soon as we have the new ruling from the Court of Appeal.”

With the stay rejected, the judicial and industrial calendars now run in parallel: the Supreme Court will decide on October 20, eight days before the deadline set for shutting down the hot end, while the text of the decree expected at Palazzo Chigi remains on hold pending that same decision.

Car tax suspended for one year, Meloni: 'I would like to reach the end of the legislature'

A decree from the Council of Ministers exempts small and medium-sized cars and motorcycles from the car tax for 2027; at a press conference the premier opened to a confidence vote on the electoral law and did not rule out early elections.

The Meloni government has approved a decree suspending for one year the mandatory ownership tax on a broad range of vehicles. The exemption will apply in 2027 to cars with power up to 80 kW and all motorcycles, for one vehicle per person: according to Corriere della Sera, the scope covers a single car tax bill, the one of lowest amount, for each individual. The measure is reported to affect 14.5 million vehicles and will be in force from 1 January to 31 December 2027.

The draft decree provides for a transfer of 2,293.5 million euros to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces for 2027, to compensate for the lost revenue. Alongside the measure comes an extension, smaller than in the past, of the discount on fuel excise duties: according to la Repubblica, the discount on diesel drops to 12.2 cents per liter from 18 to 25 September, before falling further to 6.1 cents until 5 October. Corriere della Sera places the measure in the context of annual inflation in August, which rose to 3.3%, from 2.9% in July.

“The scheme is the same as the Berlusconi government’s on housing” — Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council

The premier’s reference accompanies the presentation of the car tax measure, described as a temporary exemption rather than a structural abolition.

The same day saw Giorgia Meloni make a surprise appearance at a press conference at Palazzo Chigi, in a public appearance reported by a single source (Il Messaggero); no independent confirmations of the specific content of the remarks are available at this time. The premier stated her intention to complete the term, claiming the stability of the current government majority.

“I would like to reach the end of the legislature” — Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council

Meloni did not rule out an early return to the polls should the electoral law be rejected in the Chamber by secret ballot, thus linking the outcome of the institutional measure to the very survival of the executive. The text of the electoral reform, already approved by the Senate, is expected to undergo its third reading in the Chamber starting 28 September.

The decree on the car tax and excise duties must now follow the usual conversion process, while the debate on the electoral law shifts to the timing and numbers of the secret ballot in the Chamber.

More italy today

Meloni on official visit to Norway

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is on a visit to the Kingdom of Norway, in Oslo, as part of the government's foreign policy agenda. On the same day, Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano welcomed Pope Leo XIV to Assisi for the Franciscan Youth Meeting 2026. (Italian Government)

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