On Saturday, the Italian Senate passed the 2025 budget bill after a confidence vote requested by the government. It is now officially law. The €30 billion package, hailed by the government as “prudent” and “balanced,” has sparked sharp criticism from the centre-left opposition and dissent within the ruling coalition.
Tensions escalated on Friday when Guido Quintino Liris, the budget rapporteur from Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, resigned in protest. Liris decried the budget’s “armour-plating” in the Senate. He described it as a form of “de facto mono-chamberism” that left no room for meaningful amendments.
Despite the controversy, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti defended the budget as a measure that “rewards” the nation and represents “a value.” In the wake of Liris’s resignation, Giorgetti also expressed openness to reviewing parliamentary budget rules.
Key Measures in the Senate approved 2025 Budget
The budget introduces €30billion in new measures, including:
- A €1,000 Newborn Bonus: Means-tested support for parents aimed at addressing Italy’s declining birth rate.
- Healthcare Funding Boost: An additional €1.3 billion allocated for healthcare resources. This includes higher allowances for ER staff, and contract renewals for 2028-2030.
- Banks and Insurers Contribution: Financial institutions will provide a €3.5billion contribution to support the national health system. However, critics argue it is effectively a loan to be reimbursed in future years.
- Tax Cuts for Lower Earners: Continuation of labour-tax wedge reductions introduced in the 2023 budget.
- Pension Scheme Extension: Retention of the Quota 103 scheme, allowing early retirement under specific conditions.
- Public Spending Reviews: Ministries have been instructed to reduce budgets, contributing €2.3–2.4billion in financial coverage.
Opposition Criticism
Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), condemned the budget as a betrayal of Premier Meloni’s previous promises and a failure to address Italians’ most pressing needs.
“The days when Giorgia Meloni presented herself as a champion of parliamentary democracy are long gone,” Schlein said. She also accused the government of stifling debate and sidelining its own majority.
She criticised measures such as increasing minimum pensions by less than €2 per month while approving reimbursements of over €3,000 per month for ministers, slashing public health funds, and allocating billions for the controversial Messina Strait Bridge.
“This is a budget that burdens those who struggle the most, sacrifices quality of life, and prioritises weapons and tax pardons over public welfare,” Schlein added.
Meloni Defends “Balanced” Budget
Premier Giorgia Meloni praised the 2025 budget as a step towards a “stronger and fairer Italy.”
“It is a highly balanced manoeuvre that supports medium and low incomes, helps families with children, allocates record resources for healthcare, reduces the tax burden, and supports those who produce and create jobs,” Meloni said following the Senate vote.
She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility while implementing its electoral program and fighting tax evasion. “This budget lays the foundations for a new relationship between the State and citizens,” she said, calling it “another step forward” in building a more competitive Italy.
