The cut cost a billion a month and it’s not even fair. We preferred to divert the budget’s resources to social justice measures. But in the meantime the gas station attendants are not there and announce a two-day strike at the end of the month
January 12, 2023
The President (or the President?) of the Council Giorgia Meloni personally replied to the criticisms leveled at her government after the stop to cut excise duties and the consequent increases in the price of fuel. In the last episode of “Giorgia’s Agenda” he took the cue from the video circulating on the net, dated 2019, where Meloni herself took it out on the excise duties and wished them to be cut.
“I am still convinced that excise duties should be cut, but the world has changed since 2019, there is an emergency situation on several fronts that requires us to make choices. In this electoral campaign I did not promise to cut excise duties because I knew what conditions I would find. I strongly hope that sooner or later we will make the structural cut in excise duties, but first we need to get the nation’s economic growth back in motion. And we need to find resources to promote wealth and work”.
Confirming the cut in excise duties, Meloni assured, costs on average one billion a month. Could it be done? Yes, but it would not have been possible to cut the cost of labour, increase the family allowance by 50%, increase funds for healthcare… The list is long.
“The reason for choosing to put resources on these things and not on a new cut in excise duties? Meanwhile-she objected- the cut in excise duties applies to everyone in the same way and paradoxically helps those with luxury cars. We have taken these ten billion and instead of spreading them indifferently between those who take 500 euros and those who take ten thousand, we have helped those who need it most. It is social justice. And then the price of oil was going down and we assessed that even without the excise cut the increase in fuel would have been sustainable. And so it is even if part of the information tells something else”.
The cut in excise duties was, even for the previous government, a temporary measure, waiting to see how the price of petrol would go.
“The campaigns we see these days I didn’t see them with previous governments. Today the average price of petrol is 1.812 euros, in June of last year it was 2,073 euros, in July 1,988, 1,867 euros on August 1st. Is there anyone who takes advantage of it? I spoke with the guarantor, with the Guardia di Finanza, let’s check who doesn’t communicate the change in prices which is mandatory, let’s strengthen the sanctioning rules for them. And we have established that each distributor, in addition to the obligation to display his price, also display the average of that day. An intervention must be done on the motorway, where sometimes the price can be higher for the sub-concessions and sometimes the rules are broken and the concessionaires have to be vigilant. We will continue to monitor the situation and intervene when necessary, but I am convinced that I have made the most sensible choices, dedicating resources to those who need them most”.
Meanwhile, however, the petrol stations announce a strike for 25 and 26 January. The decision of the pump managers came “to put an end to this wave of mud against a category of honest workers and try to restore the truth”. The reference is to the allegations of speculation. The clarifications of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni seem to be of little use: “The majority of petrol station attendants are honest and responsible and we must intervene to protect them”. For Codacons, the strike is an absurd decision.
