Budget 2027, process and calendar: the stages of the budget law up to approval

The fifth maneuver of the Meloni government is worth around 26 billion, according to what emerged in the approval of the Council of Ministers at the end of October. The bill rises compared to the Dpb tables which indicated interventions for 23.5 billion. The executive is aware that as it is the last maneuver before the end of the legislature, it could be a "budget" also with an electoral vocation, i.e. the various majority parties will push to obtain the inclusion of their own flagship measures.

At the end of September, Istat published the official reviews of the Italian accounts for 2025 which certified that Italy will not exit early this year from the EU infringement procedure for excessive deficit. The next step was the presentation of the Public Finance Policy Document (DPFP). Then the Chambers voted on a resolution on the text presented by the government with the general framework of the maneuver and the parallel vote on the budget deviation for the activation of the national safeguard clause for energy and military investments, i.e. the flexibility granted by the EU.

In mid-October, the so-called Draft Budgetary Document (DPB) was sent to the European Commission and the Eurogroup, a text that collects the key points and measures of the maneuver. The next step was the presentation of the actual budget bill to the Chambers, with the detailed measures. The approval in the Council of Ministers took place on 28 October, eight days after the deadline established by law. The deadline for sending it to the Chambers is not peremptory, but the postponement will force the time for parliamentary discussion to be cut.

The next step is the deposit of the text in Parliament, expected at the beginning of next week, in the first days of November. The examination of the maneuver, following the alternation rule, will begin this year in Montecitorio. The Budget Committee is expected to hinge the text on Tuesday 3 November. The other commissions will also be involved for the aspects within their competence.

Auditions will start from November 5th. Until the 12th, parliamentarians will listen to the main institutions, from Istat to the Bank of Italy, the social partners and the economic categories. Normally, the cycle of hearings ends with the intervention of the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti.

Parliamentarians can then present their proposed changes by November 17, as currently assumed. For parliamentary amendments, a budget is foreseen, which could be around 300 million. At the end of the examination of the parties' proposals, the government normally presents a major amendment which incorporates the permitted changes.

After approval at Montecitorio, the bill begins examination at Palazzo Madama. In recent years, the maneuver has reached its second reading practically armored, without the possibility of further modifications. If they are made, the text must be subjected to a third reading. Both houses of Parliament, in fact, must approve the exact same text.

Meanwhile, on 24 November (and in any case by the end of November) the European Commission will publish its opinion on the Italian and other Eurozone countries' Dpb, at the same time as the European semester. Only in the spring of 2027, in light of the actual data, will the final verdict on the accounts and the debt/deficit recovery path be reached.