The European Commission has referred the single benefit case to the European Court of Justice. A new confrontation is therefore looming between Italy and the EU, which sees the law as discrimination against mobile workers from other member states.
The European Commission has taken Italy to the EU Court of Justice over the one-off subsidy. The case could trigger a new heated confrontation between Italy and the European Commission. Giorgia Meloni had already described as “surreal” the reasons for the recent EU infringement procedure against Italy regarding family benefits.
The start of the judicial action comes shortly after the letter commenting on the conclusions of the 2024 report on the rule of law that the Italian Government sent Von der Leyen on the issue of freedom of information.
According to the EU Commission, mobile workers from other Member States are discriminated against
The European Commission has announced that it intends to take legal action against Italy for discrimination against mobile workers from other Member States in relation to the single-family allowance provision.
According to the law that came into force in 2022, workers who do not reside in Italy for at least two years or whose children do not live in Italy cannot benefit from it. An aspect that for the Commission would represent a “violation of European law on the coordination of social security and free movement” to the detriment of those who have recently moved to Italy while maintaining their family elsewhere.
“Each country must take care of the available resources. Italy is among the countries with the highest EU debt and we cannot compare ourselves with France, Germany or other founding members of the EU that can afford to spend more or accumulate more debt.” This is what Flavio Tosi, Forza Italia MEP says.
The Italian Government lacks the resources to expand the number of beneficiaries
The Italian Executive has already increased 3 billion euros resources to support the family benefits system and, according to the Prime Minister, cannot afford to invest beyond what is already allocated. The single-family subsidy is one of the central measures of government action to address poverty. drop in birth rate in Italy. One of the key aspects of the Fratelli d’Italia program.
Despite Rome’s response to the Commission’s letter of formal notice in 2023 and the reasoned opinion at the end of the same year, the country’s response would not have adequately met the Commission’s requests. Therefore, the case It was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In an interview broadcast on the subject, Meloni expected “reasonableness” on the part of the Commission, otherwise he made it known that “he wanted to fight.”
