“Italy is the second country in the EU area for allocations to support families and businesses since the beginning of the energy crisis, from September 2021 to today”. Palazzo Chigi underlines this by relaunching a study by the Brussels think tank Bruegel (Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory), published in recent days.
The Draghi government – highlights the report – has allocated “49.5 billion euros, a figure second only to that invested by Germany. Italy is also the third country for expenditure as a percentage of GDP (2.8%). In total, the countries of Europe have allocated about 280 billion to date ”.
Bruegel’s study lists the various interventions adopted since last fall: the first interventionat the end of September, it made it possible to offset the increase in electricity and gas prices until the end of 2021, also using the proceeds from auctions for CO2 quotas. In December, the government intervened to eliminate system charges for electricity users, cancel charges on gas bills, increase bonuses for families in conditions of economic and social vulnerability. New measures arrived in January 2022 against the expensive bills, with a tax credit of 20% for energy-intensive companies that had experienced a 30% increase in energy prices compared to 2019.
The social bonus was extended in March to 5.2 million home users and the government took action to reduce the price of gasoline by 25 cents until the end of April. In April an extra expense was approved for combating the increase in energy prices and supporting the production sectors most affected by the crisis, thanks to the elimination of system charges on bills for the whole summer and the reduction to 5% VAT on gas bills. In May A support package was launched for families and businesses which also aimed at accelerating the commissioning of renewable energy and regasification plants and at a cut of 30 cents per liter of petrol and diesel. In June a new decree was approved to reduce the increase in bills, extending some old measures such as the reduction of VAT on gas bills to 5 percent. In Augustthe Aid bis decree (15 billion euro) with resources to cover the extension of the measures already adopted but also for the early revaluation of pensions and a further cut in the tax wedge.