The controversy over the role of the Court of Auditors with regard to the Pnrr continues to hold sway. In fact, it levels up. In addition to that with the opposition, the government is also clashing with the European Union. In recent days, the majority forces of Giorgia Meloni’s executive have given the first go-ahead in commission to the PA decree, which includes an amendment intended to limit the concurrent control of the Court of Auditors on the implementation of the Pnrr. Today, June 2, it was a spokesman for the European Commission who spoke on the matter, saying that Brussels will monitor “with great attention what the draft law provides” and inviting the Italian government to “guarantee effective controls”. Palazzo Chigi directly answered piquedly, with a long note released in the evening and divided into eight points. As regards the need for controls, the first point listed by the Prime Minister, the Italian government says it agrees with what the EU spokesman said. On other issues, the note contains decidedly more polemical tones.
The “uninformed prejudice” of the EU Commission
In the second point, dedicated to «uninformed prejudice», Palazzo Chigi writes: «The spokesperson states that the “European Commission does not comment on draft laws”, but immediately afterwards – without any in-depth analysis of the merits – the Commission spokesman himself follows up considerations that fuel instrumental political controversies that do not correspond to reality». In this regard, the presidency of the Council assures that the rule proposed by the government will not change in any way what was agreed between the EU Commission and the Italian government in 2021. With regard to the controls by the Court of Auditors on the Pnrr, the note underlines that already a law of Draghi government entrusts “the control over the Pnrr funds to the Court of Auditors in the manner of the subsequent management control and not the concomitant control”.
The question of the tax shield
Another controversial passage is the one contained in the fifth point, dedicated to the tax shield for public officials and executives. In this case, Palazzo Chigi points out, the law has already been in force for some time and has never been the subject of observations by the Commission. Now the Meloni government has simply extended its effectiveness for another 12 months. «This discipline remained in force for three years with two different governments, without causing any relief. We are certain that the Commission’s line will not change in the face of the extension for another year decided by a government with a different political orientation”, reads the note from the Prime Minister.
The support of constitutionalists
Finally, Palazzo Chigi tries to dampen the controversy. Firstly, by letting it be known that at yesterday’s meeting between the government and the Court of Auditors “the opening of a working table was unanimously decided to review and better define some institutions relating to controls on the Pnrr”. After that, the presidency of the Council relies on the support received from “illustrious constitutionalists such as Sabino Cassese, Cesare Mirabelli and Giancarlo Coraggio”, who in the past few hours have ruled out that the parliament’s intervention goes against the Constitution.
The EU Commission clarifies
“A confusion has arisen in relation to my answer to a question on the draft law relating to the Italian Court of Auditors: I said that the Italian authorities have created a specific institution to control the use of Pnrr funds”, clarifies the European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer speaking at theAnsa. “And that – he concludes – the Commission will continue to deal with this aspect, given that it has been agreed with the Italian authorities”.
Photo credits: ANSA | Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the EPC summit in Bulboaca, Moldova (June 1, 2023)
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