Giorgetti: increased defence spending without giving up social priorities

"Insofar as - thanks to the activation of the national safeguard clause - a broader net spending growth path will be tolerated due to higher defence and security spending alone, the planned increase in spending would not entail any renunciation of expenditure dedicated to the main policy priorities of a social nature, such as those mentioned by the questioners". This was said by the Minister of the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti replying in question time at the Senate to a question from the M5s on the sources of funding for the increase in military spending.

For Giorgetti, 'since it is a flexibility in derogation, the activation of the safeguard clause would not require the publication of a new Medium-Term Structural Plan, but would in any case imply a request to Parliament for a deviation from the programme targets, to be approved after the involvement of Parliament'.

Responding again to the Five Star question, the Minister of the Economy added: 'With regard to the strengthening of defence and security capacity - also in order to fulfil the commitments made during the NATO Summit held in The Hague last June - it appears crucial to wait for the results of the 2025 deficit estimate that Istat will notify to the European Commission in March. And he explained: 'Should this turn out to be less than 3 per cent, the procedure for exiting the excessive deficit procedure would be activated'. "This," the Minister of the Economy explained, "would make it possible to confirm the intentions contained in the Public Finance Planning Document, i.e. the gradual increase in defence and security spending with an incidence on GDP that can grow up to approximately 0.5 percentage points by the end of the three-year period covered by the budget law.

The minister's intervention provoked a reaction from Claudio Borghi, a Lega Nord senator and his party colleague: 'Giorgetti confirmed what he had said in committee about the procedure for any additional defence expenditure: that is, nothing in the budget, but if there were, it would have to be approved by Parliament with a deviation, after confirmation that it is expenditure outside the stability pact. Confirmation that we still do not have. We do not like it, but this is what the EU allows: if the additional expenditure allowed is only for defence, our request is that it be used for internal security and law enforcement on the streets, certainly not to send soldiers to the front line'. Borghi warns: 'From here to say whether or not we will vote for a deviation, there are many things to see'.