The results will be seen in the coming months, but the contents of the Budget Law for everything concerning the environment and energy are to be kept under observation and are the litmus test of a majority that continues to see the green transition as a thorn in the side of the left, the greens, and associations. It is true that many ideas over the years have shown application limitations on what needs to be done to change course, but not everything is to be thrown away. The government of Giorgia Meloni with the financial maneuver it has a good opportunity to stay in the game a new economic and industrial designale. A game that for better or for worse must be played
Sustainable mobility
In the budget law the government has included provisions against environmentally harmful subsidies (SAD), but has cut 4,5 billion automotive funds, essentially referring to sustainable motor mobility. Within these dualities are included criticisms and proposals that will accompany the law's progress in Parliament. Adiconsum, for example, has asked the government to prepare a multi-year plan of incentives for the purchase of cars, starting with the least polluting categories. "The elimination of incentives has a heavy impact on the automotive supply chain" it says in a note on the eve of the parliamentary debate. The 80% cut from Automotive Fund, managed by the Ministry of Enterprise until 2030 makes “totally insufficient interventions to support the reconversion of the sector and compromise the competitiveness of Italian companies” adds Anfia, National Association of the Automotive Industry Supply Chain. In 2025, therefore, there will be no ecobonuses for the purchase of new cars, in discontinuity with what the government had introduced Mario Draghi in 2022. Italians who were hoping for it for now can rest easy.
Harmful environmental taxes and subsidies
On the car issue, Giorgia Meloni probably wants to see what will happen in Europe, between the effects of the German crisis and the general strike of the Italian unions, but she defends the structure of the maneuver. Also on cars, however, measures have been introduced that penalize non-electric or hybrid company cars. They are introduced three tax brackets depending on whether the vehicle granted to employees as a benefit is petrol, diesel or hybrid/electric. Owning a car actually contributes to the employee's income and it was decided to hit it. The government wants to neutralize a growing market, but it also tells companies to renew their company fleets. Have there been any backlash from employees and companies?
Still regarding harmful subsidies, the government has established an increase in VAT to 22% for waste that goes to landfill, that is, that are not treated to obtain energy. It remains to be seen in which regions the rule will actually be applied, given the chronic lack of waste treatment plants. Will a step be taken towards the circular economy or will it remain just a hypothesis? On the bonuses about which everything and the opposite of everything has been said, the Budget Law repositions them as a path to energy efficiency. In fact, there are extensions for the whole of 2025 of the renovation bonus to 50% and the deduction of 65% of the expenses incurred in 2025 for the Superbonus. The deduction, in this case, applies only to interventions started by 15 October 2024.
Gas and electricity reforms
Another chapter to keep an eye on is the costs of gas and electricity: € 105 billion by 2027 This is the total revenue that the government expects from the excise duty reform gas ed electricity. For gas, there is even a new classification of "domestic uses" and "non-domestic uses", overcoming the old distinction between civil and industrial uses. Different taxation also for electricity in order to increase the production of electricity from renewable sources. What are the implications for families and businesses, considering that Italy continues to bear the highest cost of energy in Europe? On the other hand, the authorizations to build plants with renewable sources are all blocked by appeals and bureaucratic delays. The energy transition cannot be arrested, say consumer associations. The environmental issue, with the energy issue as a backdrop, remains a priority that contradicts the ideological approach to the transition that the prime minister is talking about. The parliamentary discussion of the law will be yet another opportunity to let Italians know how the government wants to deal with a less heavy future from an energy and environmental point of view. The major chapters of mobility, energy efficiency, electricity and gas bills, waste have not been obscured, but expectations are much higher. In 2023, Italy invested 127 billion of euros for decarbonize the economy, but they are not enough says the latest Zero Carbon Policy Agenda Report. We will see what Parliament will decide.
