The Italian head of government sees himself back on track with his reform policy. At least for the moment he is back in the saddle.
Prominent observers already saw the end of Draghi’s government – but now the prime minister managed to liberate himself.
Recently things looked bad for Mario Draghi. His coalition partners in the government, above all the Lega and the Five Star Movement, made life difficult for the Italian head of government: in Ukraine politics, but also on the numerous reform construction sites, little or nothing worked. Parliamentarians from the two populist parties made every effort to talk the relevant government bills to pieces in the commissions or to put them off.
At the same time warnings came from Brussels. Italy must not deviate from the path of reforms if it wants to continue receiving money from the EU’s recovery fund.
The beginning of the end of the Draghi government?
Prominent observers already saw the government as the beginning of the end and argued, such as the respected economist Carlo Cottarelli, for new elections in the fall. Draghi, who stepped in to get Italy back on track for growth, found himself in a difficult position. A renewed recourse to the vote of confidence seemed to be the last resort to bring his government partners to reason.
But it didn’t get that far. A relieved Draghi appeared before the press on Thursday evening. “The horizon is brightening,” said the head of government. He feels much more relaxed than in the days before. Specifically, the governing parties have agreed on the following points:
- The concessions for beach operators expire on December 31, 2023 and are publicly advertised. Transitional periods in justified exceptional cases and compensation payments to be defined by the government for investments already made brought about the breakthrough in this dossier, which enjoys great symbolic value in Italy. The agreement unblocks the reform of competition law.
- There was also agreement in the area of taxation: the revision of the completely outdated real estate cadastre and the reform of the taxation of capital gains are now to be presented to Parliament as soon as possible.
- Finally, the government is on track with the implementation of the reconstruction plan funded by the EU. All of the milestones needed to receive the next €21 billion tranche of EU money should be met by the end of June, Draghi said.
The fact that the populists are now also involved again – at least for the moment – and support Draghi’s reform policy is primarily due to party political reasons. The Lega and the Five Star Movement are struggling with government participation. They fear that their profile as a right-wing or left-wing protest party will fall by the wayside. By distancing themselves from Draghi’s reform agenda, they initially thought they could score with the voters.
Noisy recent polls but those parties that stand by Draghi are making gains. Enrico Letta’s social-democratic Partito Democratico, who embodies loyalty to the government in an ideal way, remains firmly at the top – together with Giorgia Melonis Fratelli d’Italia, who sits on the opposition benches but loyally supports Draghi’s Ukraine policy.
Shaky truce
The Lega and the Five Stars, on the other hand, which vacillate on these important issues, are only a shadow of themselves in terms of electoral favour. This should be one of the reasons why they are currently showing themselves to be a little more responsible.
However, it remains unclear how long the truce will last. Local elections will be held in some important cities on June 12. They are considered a popularity test for the parties.