Italy’s exit from the Silk Road agreement with China marks another breaking point with respect to the policies implemented by the 5 Star Movement. A path that the Meloni government is taking, but some steps of which were already taken with Mario Draghi’s Executive. This is the case, for example, of the Bonafede reform on prescription. The then Minister of Justice of the 5 Star Movement (in the second Conte government) had proposed – and had it approved – a modification to the institution which contemplated its abolition after the first sentence, whether of conviction or acquittal. This scheme was then partially changed with the Cartabia reform which introduced the principle of “inadmissibility”, establishing time limits beyond which the process would be extinguished. It was two years from the appeal and one from the Court of Cassation. Now, the current government intends to take a further step, restoring the functioning of the prescription as before the Bonafede modification. Work in progress, then. Instead, what is almost complete is the modification of the citizen’s income. The social inclusion benefit of the 5 Star Movement has shown a double speed. It has certainly worked as a welfare tool, guaranteeing fresh resources to the most needy especially in the times of Covid. However, it has largely missed the second pillar of its mission, namely accompaniment at work. Only between 3 and 8% of recipients had a job or training offer. Without forgetting, then, the rich anecdotal evidence of irregularities and undue perceptions and the over 30 billion in total costs. The farewell to income had been set in the electoral program of the centre-right, with great outbursts from the five-star leader Conte who even went so far as to talk about civil war. When, during the summer, the “switches” of those able to work to the new support tools took place and the platform for accessing the training projects was launched, demonstrations of the beneficiaries took place in some Italian cities on which the rhetoric of the Movement tried to wedge itself. Conte again predicted a “very hot autumn”, which fortunately did not happen. And the street initiatives of income earners lasted no more than a few days. And from 2024, two measures introduced by the government to support the fragile and poorest will come into force. These are Support for job training and the inclusion allowance. The inclusion allowance, in particular, will be awarded to families that have at least one member with a disability or a minor or at least 60 years of age or who is included in a care and assistance program of the local social and health services. Another measure that the Meloni government stopped was the 110% super bonus. A measure which, on the one hand, undoubtedly favored a relaunch of construction after the total stop due to Covid. But on the other hand it has created problems for the state’s accounts, so much so that yesterday the prime minister indicated it among the difficult legacies that have made the budget maneuver more difficult: «for 2024 we have 13 billion euros more to pay higher interest on the debt, the increase in rates by the ECB, and 20 billion to be paid in super bonus credits.” An issue, moreover, which also fits in with the European debate on the Stability Pact and the proposal on the table to reduce the debt by 1% per year. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti explained it a few days ago in a hearing before the joint budget commissions of the Chamber and Senate: «The debt-to-GDP ratio is reduced with growth, at most with lower interest expenditure. In our projections, the reduction of debt to GDP as early as next year could be around 1%, but there is the weight of the Superbonus. The reduction of public debt by 1% per year is not scary for Italy but it must start when the smoke from the Superbonus clears.” There are also two other measures introduced with the Conte 2 government, which fall under the category of “ethical taxes” of which the Five Star Movement were great supporters, namely the sugar tax and the plastic tax. Taxes which constitute a trap ready to spring around the ankles of the sectors concerned, fortunately never entered into force. With this maneuver their application has been postponed for the sixth time. In the hope that, sooner or later, the end will be written in this case too.
