Extension of tax discount on diesel until September 17, government aims for national hydrocarbon production

A new extension of the tax discount on diesel arrives: the reduction of 17 cents per litre, which would have expired this evening, will be in force until Thursday 17 September included. The decision was adopted with a new law decree, which finances the cut with 85 million euros and which also contains measures to accelerate permits and concessions to increase gas and oil production.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced "new measures" on fuels "coming next week", and said that it is necessary to "increase national production of oil and gas".

The aim is "to reduce dependence on foreign countries, pay less, guarantee lower costs for families and businesses, defend the nation's energy security".

The new law decree, explained the Prime Minister, "will allow the State to appoint commissioners who will help the Regions cut down time and issue permits and concessions for the research, exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons on our territory much more quickly". The Prime Minister claimed "28 gigawatts more of renewables, three times better than what was done in the same period by those who lecture us today on green energy". And then "the courage to reopen the road to nuclear energy".

The government would have liked to stop with generalized tax cuts on fuel, which are no longer sustainable by public coffers and especially favorable to the richest, who consume more. The political objective was to move towards targeted aid to the most affected categories, i.e. the less well-off and lorry drivers.

But in the majority it was not possible to reach an agreement on which measures to adopt, and above all on where to find the money to finance them. Thus, we went back to extending the tax cut for just one week. All while waiting to find the right solution on the targeted measures.

The 17 cent discount on diesel costs around 13 million euros per day. Since March, fuel subsidies have cost over 2 billion euros, and finding coverage is increasingly difficult. The government anxiously awaits September 22, when Istat will announce whether Italy has fallen below the 3% deficit/GDP ratio. In this way, the country would emerge from the EU infringement procedure, and the executive would have some more budgetary margin to intervene.