Brussels \u2013 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/a>. Then, as now, there is a call to fight against tax evasion<\/strong> (recommendation 1 of 2026 and 5 of 2012), combat undeclared work<\/strong> (recommendation 6 this year and 5 in 2012), as well as renewed calls to ensure greater competition<\/strong>, 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<\/strong> and further strengthen administrative capacity,” as was already requested in 2012 (recommendation 7 at that time). It then calls for labour market reform<\/strong> (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.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/span>Furthermore, there are calls for judicial reform (recommendations 4 and 7), with a focus on tackling slow trials and an explicit request to \u201cfurther reduce the backlog and the time taken to resolve cases within the judicial system.” Last but not least, the land registry<\/strong>. Despite requests since 2013 to update it<\/a>, to date \u201ccadastral values are not aligned to market values,\u201d notes the European Commission, which calls (Recommendation 2 of 2026) to \u201cupdate land registry values<\/strong>, based on the commitments made in the medium-term fiscal-structural plan, as part of a broader review of housing policies.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The country-specific recommendations paint a picture of an Italy grappling with structural and systemic problems<\/strong>, and the inability of the entire political class \u2013 from left to right \u2013 to implement reforms that the European Commission is now calling for once again with renewed vigour. “Europe\u2019s competitiveness begins with reforms,<\/strong>\u201d said St\u00e9phane S\u00e9journ\u00e9<\/strong>, Executive Vice-President for Industrial Strategy. For the Meloni government, this marks an explicit call for a genuine change of pace: \u201cBy 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.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2023\/05\/24\/debito-pnrr-raccomandazioni-ue-per-italia\/<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Looking at the new recommendations \u2013 those not tied to a legacy that has never been overcome \u2013 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<\/a>, the country is urged to “accelerate electrification and step up efforts to promote renewable energy<\/strong> and storage systems, including through the full implementation of reforms regarding authorisations<\/strong>, particularly at sub-national level”. All this, “by investing in the electricity grid.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n 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.<\/strong>“<\/span><\/span> 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<\/strong>, 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<\/a>. As for wastewater, the country has been heavily fined<\/a> for failing to implement a 2014 directive. Today\u2019s specific recommendations reveal an Italy that has been at a standstill for over a decade.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The European Commission has published a document setting out the reforms required of each country: for Italy, the same recommendations as in 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":246694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[26180,27892,26140,25830,27875,28440,25885,28223,26539,29572,33394,26444],"class_list":["post-455539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-fisco-en","tag-justice-en","tag-governo-meloni-en","tag-pensions-in","tag-public-administration-en","tag-riforme-en","tag-recommendations-specific-en","tag-stephane-sejourne-en","tag-evasione-fiscale-en","tag-ue","tag-work-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":455540,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455539\/revisions\/455540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}National energy policy: the new hurdle to overcome<\/h4>\n
Climate: new aspects of long-standing issues<\/h4>\n
Pension reform<\/h4>\n
\nwomen\u2019s average age at the birth of their first
\nchild.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cthe brain drain persists, with many highly skilled young residents seeking better opportunities abroad, while Italy struggles to attract and retain talent.\u201d Against this backdrop, it is recommended (recommendation 1) to \u201caddress demographic challenges to mitigate their effects on potential growth and the sustainability of the pension system,<\/strong> including by attracting and retaining a skilled workforce and encouraging labour market participation among older people<\/strong>, particularly in the southern regions of Italy.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"