From turnover in the public sector for defence and security to the severance pay, the majority tightens up on (mini) adjustments to the manoeuvre

The timetable for the manoeuvre, which is expected in the Chamber of Deputies on 15-16 December, is tightening. The deputies of the Budget Commission have only four weeks to approve a final text from the approximately 3,200 amendments that have passed the admissibility check. But the three-figure figure has its days numbered, because as early as Wednesday the admitted amendments will have to be reduced to 600, a cut-off that forces the parties to choose their priorities.

Some issues are transversal to the majority, so much so that the Minister of the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti has already opened up to the requests of the allies, giving an indication of what to change also in view of the formal opinions that his department will have to give on the amendments that will be put to the vote. Among these, there will almost certainly be the exclusion of military personnel and police forces from the partial turnover freeze in the Pa. This is demanded by Fratelli d'Italia, Forza Italia and the League, who intend to take this measure to its destination. The majority would also like the reopening of the six-month period of silence-consent to confer the severance pay to the supplementary pension fund, but the question of coverage is still not entirely clear since the change would make the INPS fund into which the severance pay is paid lack resources.

Fratelli d'Italia is also focusing, for the time being, on funding for non-medical postgraduates, the leisure bonus for children from at-risk groups, and support for orphans. For Forza Italia, however, the priority remains the Irpef cut to the middle class. 'A cut on incomes of around EUR 50,000 gross per year is felt because it comes to as much as EUR 627 per year,' explains the party's head of departments, Alessandro Cattaneo. It would be an important step because 'for the first time in a long time this bracket is not being asked for, but is being given something back', a move that would also stimulate the economy given that 'the middle class represents the productive, economic and social engine of our country and should therefore be encouraged and supported'. The Irpef adjustment, however, remains tied to the extra resources that will come from the two-year Preventive Agreement, the pact with the tax authorities whose terms have been reopened until 12 December. "When I see them, we will decide how to use them. First see the money, then see how to use it,' said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti speaking from the ongoing G20 in Brazil. A clear idea of its total revenue (the first tranche gave 1.3 billion) will only be available in about a month's time, in time for the government to present its amendment to collect the requests left out.

In all likelihood it will be quite a lot, since the treasury available for parliamentary amendments, to be divided between the majority and the opposition, stops at 'just' 120 million euro. Speaking to MPs, Giorgetti had also opened up to a reformulation of the crypto tax, which his party would like to lower from the 42% envisaged in the manoeuvre. Noi Moderati also recalls the priorities of its amendments: to increase the salaries of young people under 30, to support the guarantee fund for SMEs that invest and for those in difficulty that grow, and to give nurses and postgraduates the opportunity to do freelance work outside working hours. The oppositions, on the other hand, go ahead on their issues, including minimum wage and healthcare.