Land registry, energy, tax evasion and jobs: the EU’s recommendations to Italy unchanged for over a decade

Brussels – Ensuring and maintaining the “sustainability” of public finances, committing to increased defence spending, and promoting research and innovation. Furthermore, speeding up the reform of the national energy mix by reducing dependence on gas and accelerating the transition to electricity from renewable sources. The European Commission’s country-specific recommendations for Italy are set out here. At least, as far as the new elements of the report are concerned, even in 2026 there are policy recommendations and measures identical to those of over a decade ago.

From the fight against tax evasion to land registry reform, the same recommendations since 2012

If one examines the calls for reform coming from Brussels in detail, they amount to a list of measures already set out in the specific recommendations issued in 2012. Then, as now, there is a call to fight against tax evasion (recommendation 1 of 2026 and 5 of 2012), combat undeclared work (recommendation 6 this year and 5 in 2012), as well as renewed calls to ensure greater competition, particularly in the transport and electricity sectors (recommendation 4 and 6, respectively). Furthermore, there is a call to “further increase the efficiency of the public administration and further strengthen administrative capacity,” as was already requested in 2012 (recommendation 7 at that time). It then calls for labour market reform (recommendations 6 of 2026 and 4 of 2012), and this time the emphasis is placed on the need to “strengthen collective bargaining, including to support adequate wages.”

 Furthermore, there are calls for judicial reform (recommendations 4 and 7), with a focus on tackling slow trials and an explicit request to “further reduce the backlog and the time taken to resolve cases within the judicial system.” Last but not least, the land registry. Despite requests since 2013 to update it, to date “cadastral values are not aligned to market values,” notes the European Commission, which calls (Recommendation 2 of 2026) to “update land registry values, based on the commitments made in the medium-term fiscal-structural plan, as part of a broader review of housing policies.” 

The country-specific recommendations paint a picture of an Italy grappling with structural and systemic problems, and the inability of the entire political class – from left to right – to implement reforms that the European Commission is now calling for once again with renewed vigour. “Europe’s competitiveness begins with reforms,” said Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Industrial Strategy. For the Meloni government, this marks an explicit call for a genuine change of pace: “By modernising our economies and removing long-standing obstacles, Member States can create the fiscal space needed to invest in the industries, technologies and skills of the future.”

 https://www.eunews.it/2023/05/24/debito-pnrr-raccomandazioni-ue-per-italia/

National energy policy: the new hurdle to overcome

Looking at the new recommendations – those not tied to a legacy that has never been overcome – there is a call to reconsider energy policy choices and the national energy mix. Italy is too dependent on gas, and in light of the high energy bills caused by the war in Iran, the country is urged to “accelerate electrification and step up efforts to promote renewable energy and storage systems, including through the full implementation of reforms regarding authorisations, particularly at sub-national level”. All this, “by investing in the electricity grid.”

Climate: new aspects of long-standing issues

The recommendation calling on Italy to change its energy mix is the same one that calls for “addressing climate-related risks and mitigating their economic impact, including through greater institutional coordination, nature-based solutions, and climate insurance cover.“ A new element is introduced: the recognition of increasingly extreme weather events and their impact on the real economy. However, it also calls to “tackle the remaining inefficiencies in water and waste management, reduce infrastructure shortcomings, particularly in the southern regions.” These are two further long-standing issues for Italy: regarding waste, the country has been urged, in no uncertain terms, as early as 2017 to take action, and to put an end to a phenomenon costing hundreds of millions of euros. As for wastewater, the country has been heavily fined for failing to implement a 2014 directive. Today’s specific recommendations reveal an Italy that has been at a standstill for over a decade.