At Palazzo Chigi

Budget Bill: the government revises its stance on education. Meloni: ‘But they weren’t cuts.’ The CGIL confirms the strike on the 20th

At the negotiating table, ANCE is calling for 1.4 billion to cover the rise in material costs. Confindustria: the budget bill should be geared towards growth. The trade unions will have their turn this afternoon

by Rome Editorial Staff

13 November 2026

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Adjustments and additions, yes; measures that fundamentally alter the structure of the Budget Bill, no. This is the framework that the Minister for the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, outlined to the employers’ organisations, who gathered this morning at Palazzo Chigi for the first round of discussions between the Government and the social partners on the Budget Bill. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the government is willing to make adjustments to the measures concerning schools, although the Prime Minister clarified: ‘During its meeting with the trade unions, the government officially confirmed that it intends to remove the measure that had caused particular discontent within the education sector. However, as facts matter more than controversy, these were not cuts; no teacher would have lost their job, no ATA staff would be made redundant; the measure envisaged in the budget began to bring staffing levels into line with actual pupil numbers in relation to new recruitment, because schools have lost almost 800,000 pupils over the last 10 years due to the falling birth rate. In any case, we have decided to send a further signal of our commitment because schools are much more than a budget item; they are the place where it is decided what sort of nation we will be in 20 years’ time.”

“I view the fact that the planned cuts to school staff numbers have been averted very positively,” said Giuseppe Valditara, Minister for Education and Merit, in a statement.

According to participants, the Minister for the Economy and Finance referred to ‘the path towards sustainable public finances that we embarked upon four years ago’ and the ‘prudent approach’ that the Government considers essential in a complex international economic climate. However, he said he was willing ‘to take on board recommendations and suggestions to amend’ certain parts of the text, including, again according to reports, those relating to the exit tax. The Minister did not comment on the phasing-in of Superbonus credits.

Bombardieri: ‘The budget cuts to education have been scrapped’

“There is some good news: the cuts to education have been scrapped,” said UIL General Secretary Pierpaolo Bombardieri at the end of the meeting between the government and the trade unions on the budget at Palazzo Chigi. “The government has announced that it will withdraw the proposed cuts to education,” he said.

CISL-UIL: Government considers increasing funding for the health service

“They are continuing to assess what funds are available, and any that prove feasible will be channelled into the health service,” said CISL General Secretary Daniela Fumarola at the end of the meeting with the government on the budget. So are further resources possible? “Yes, they are examining and looking into certain areas in more detail; we hope there will be a positive response on this too.” “We have called for more investment in healthcare: Minister Giorgetti said that, partly in light of the dialogue with the State-Regions Conference, the government is considering allocating further resources. We will press for this,” said UIL General Secretary Pierpaolo Bombardieri.

CGIL: ‘A politically pointless meeting; strike confirmed

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“It was a courteous but politically fruitless meeting. We reiterated our strongly negative view of the budget, which fails to address the country’s emergencies and is based on a combination of austerity and rearmament. It is raising funds at the expense of pensions. This alone is more than enough to confirm the reasons why the CGIL has called for a general strike on the 20th,” commented CGIL confederal secretary Christian Ferrari as he left the meeting at Palazzo Chigi on the Budget Bill. “We reject the overall framework; a completely different economic policy is needed to tackle the country’s problems,” he added.

The Superbonus credit scheme

The deferral of construction tax credits has been at the heart of businesses’ requests. Angelo Camilli, Confindustria’s vice-president for Credit, Finance and Taxation, said that the measure ‘intervenes in a market that has already become well-established’. He listed it amongst the measures that “will drain liquidity from the business sector” in the coming years and which risk putting the supply chain in “great difficulty”. When asked whether the Government had provided any reassurances, Camilli replied, ‘No’. The discussion, he explained, served to enable the Government ‘to understand the views of the employers’ organisations’: ‘We will see in the coming weeks whether there will be scope for further work on these issues’.

For Confindustria, growth remains the priority, and the budget bill should be geared towards this ‘during these weeks of debate’. Camilli also highlighted other issues: energy – for which, he said, businesses are now paying twice as much as last year – investment, and the expansion of SMEs.

The high cost of materials

ANCE takes a similar line. General Manager Romain Bocognani warned that the credit rescheduling scheme risks ‘draining liquidity from businesses’ and called for attention to be paid to those ‘more reputable firms that have maintained their creditworthiness and employ a large number of staff’. According to Bocognani, around 20 per cent of companies would be affected. Builders have also raised the issue of rising material costs, estimating a funding requirement of 1.4 billion for 13,000 building sites and 7,000 companies. Without these resources, Bocognani said, ‘we risk building sites coming to a standstill’.

The banks present at the meeting

Speaking on behalf of the ABI, Director-General Marco Emilio Rottigni referred to “an obviously clear stance on the part of the government”. When asked about any potential concessions, including regarding the Superbonus, he replied: “We’ll see.”

Following the first group of associations, organisations representing agriculture, crafts, trade and transport – from Coldiretti to Confcommercio – are due to meet at 12 noon. At 3 pm, it will be the turn of the trade unions, including CGIL, CISL and UIL.