Diesel, the cut in excise duties returns. Flexibility on the Ecofin table

The decision to interrupt the long chain of extensions to the cut in excise duties on fuel lasted less than 24 hours. The change of heart began in the early hours of yesterday afternoon. And barring any surprises, it will soon be translated into the publication of a new inter-ministerial decree to reactivate the "mobile excise duties". Who can count on a slightly more substantial gift than in recent times, because the prices incurred by motorists in September were higher.

Mobile excise duties

What quickly reignited the work on the measure was the predictable side effect of the expiry of the old discount. Which also pushed up, by 6 cents, the price ceiling introduced in recent days by Eni, followed closely by Ip and Q8; in a list that in the last few hours has also included the Esso and Tamoil stations.

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Economically, the variation is not huge. But on the political ground it is enough to spark controversy around a price cap on which the Government has focused heavily precisely to lighten the burden of interventions on the public budget. "We are working on mobile excise duties", explained the Deputy Minister of Economy Maurizio Leo since the afternoon, and Pichetto Fratin moved along a similar line while from the wide field the M5S leader Giuseppe Conte spoke of a "price ceiling that lasted as long as a cat on the ring road" and the president of the Pd senators Francesco Boccia thundered against "the failure of Giorgetti and Meloni".

The European match

More substantial, at least in perspective, is the European match, over which, however, in the same hours the air of tension was once again blowing, fueled as in recent days by a series of statements from officials, yesterday corrected on the fly by diplomatic sources.

The issues at the center of the negotiations with the EU, in view of tomorrow's Eurogroup and Friday's Ecofin in Luxembourg, are two: a community taxation on extra profits, requested by Italy together with Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Poland, and a "flexibility" on assessments relating to compliance with the spending ceilings imposed by the new Stability Pact, requested by Rome together with Greece but also discussed in recent days with other countries.