The implementation test: 521 decrees waiting to release 2.8 billion

The resumption of political activity after the summer break promises to be busy. Discussions are already underway on the measures to be included in the 2026 manoeuvre, with the usual hunt for resources. This year, then, there is a packed calendar of regional elections: seven territories (Calabria, Marche, Tuscany, Valle d'Aosta, Campania, Apulia and Veneto) will go to the polls next autumn, for more than 18 million Italians called to the polls. It starts with the Marches on 28-29 September, then it will continue with the other regions: a delicate test for the government and for the internal balances within the majority, which is part of the budget session process.

As if that were not enough, to these dossiers must be added the stock of 414 implementing measures to be passed to make the decrees and laws that have been given the green light by the Meloni government since 22 October 2022, the day it took office, fully operational. But this is not enough. The executives of the previous legislature also left their load of measures to be enacted, which, despite the efforts of the current executive, has not yet been completely disposed of: another 107 acts are missing, 70 of which refer to the government led by Mario Draghi, 27 to the yellow-green government of Giuseppe Conte and 10 to the yellow-green government (Conte I). If one adds it all up, a total of 521 acts, 206 of which have already seen the deadline for adoption set by the same law of reference pass (158 by the Meloni government, 37 by Draghi, 6 by Conte II and 5 by Conte I).

It should be noted that in some cases an implementation measure is linked to the allocation of resources. The implementation measures to be passed referring to the Meloni government would allow almost 1.9 billion to be unblocked, referring to 2025 and past years. This sum rises to 2.8 billion if we also consider the allocations blocked by the acts to be passed by the executives of the past legislature. If we also consider the next two years of multi-year funding (up to 2027), we arrive at just over 6.7 billion in total.

However, the Meloni government's commitment to reduce the use of implementing measures, to focus increasingly on self-implementing regulations, is beginning to be felt. Or, at the very least, to give priority to those acts that allow resources to be released. A year ago (see Il Sole24Ore of 18 August 2024) the stock of implementing measures to be disposed of stood at 538, and these kept resources amounting to 6.6 billion blocked.

In the last government report on the monitoring of legislative and implementation measures (update to 28 June 2025), it was noted that 'the legislative measures enacted by the Meloni government provided for the use of financial resources totalling EUR 288,542,954,961.28 (financial years 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025)'. Of these resources, 'only 11.3 per cent (or EUR 32,718,197,686.94) is attributable to regulations that refer to the subsequent adoption of implementing decrees'. Moreover, the report also pointed out, as of 28 June 2025, '87 per cent' of the euros related to the adoption of implementing measures had already been 'made available': 'Therefore, considering the resources already available as they refer to self-implementing rules and those released with the adoption of implementing measures, a total of 98.5 per cent of the total amount of the resources planned for the financial years 2022-2025 has been made available.