The context remains "difficult", so we need to "lend a hand to families and businesses". Giorgia Meloni takes the opportunity of her visit to Prague to say she is "satisfied" and publicly thank the energy companies, from Eni to Ip and Q8, who have chosen to first regulate fuel prices and now "also bills". And he launches his appeal for everyone who can to do "their best". The government will certainly continue to do its part, he repeats, and will probably also take advantage of the clause on energy and defense granted by Brussels to deal with price increases. "There is a resolution in the Chamber Budget Committee, "if Parliament votes on it...", Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti limits himself to saying, still not wanting to reveal the documents. The resolution, which the commission will vote on Thursday, in fact limits itself to indicating the rules within which to move in the absence of public accounting reform to adapt it to the new European governance, specifying only that if the government activates the clause it will have to present a specific resolution. But between now and Friday, when the public finance policy document (DPFP) is presented, the government will have to make its decision, or at least give a clearer indication. Not only in energy matters but also in the much more delicate area of defense spending. In the meantime, the prime minister moves on various tables. The next European Council is in mid-October and on that occasion Meloni, together with the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, will present proposals for a further review of the ETS mechanism. These are, he explained at the end of the bilateral meeting in Prague - which was followed by a dinner - "concrete and common sense" proposals on which Meloni hopes to build "wide convergences" in Brussels. The idea is to use the market stability reserve to curb tensions on the price of CO2, grant more flexibility in free allowances to energy-intensive sectors, from steel to ceramics and cement, and break, at least in part, the link between the cost of carbon and wholesale electricity prices. Furthermore, on the quota market, closer surveillance by the Commission, Esma and Acer is requested. But the European regulation on methane also enters the package, with the request to suspend or make more flexible the rules that risk complicating the use of alternative suppliers. Then there is Ets2. Italy and the Czech Republic want to re-discuss the start of the new system for road transport and buildings in 2028, fearing that it could translate into a further boost on fuel prices and purchasing power. Another lever, which also finds space in the 2026-2030 Action Plan signed in the government office in the center of Prague, is the medium-term choice to invest in nuclear power. An area in which Italy and the Czech Republic will be able to "exploit the complementarity of production systems and become technological and industrial partners". Prague "invests in the development of small modular reactors, Italy has just resumed its journey, I think it is a sector in which we could work very well", underlines Meloni in the joint statements with Babis. Who in turn thanks the Italian Prime Minister for the visit, jokes about her Italian which is gradually enriched with new words "today I learned a new one, 'facade' because "we displayed the Italian flag" next to the Czech one, and also the European one that flies on the building overlooking the Vltava. Furthermore, Babis also endorses the leader of the Brothers of Italy in view of the next elections, because "this continuity is very important", also "for Europe". There are other dossiers on which the visit made it possible to strengthen an axis in view of the appointments in Brussels. The most complicated remains that of the new multi-year financial plan. "We will not accept cuts to agricultural or cohesion policy", reiterates the prime minister while Babis nods nearby. Instead, it is better to cut out "other chapters, such as operating expenses which have grown significantly in recent years". The important thing, however, is to "act" as international crises dictate, because otherwise the EU "risks not having an impact".
