Italy's 2026 budget bill was approved by parliament Tuesday after it passed a confidence test in the Lower house and was voted into law by 216 votes to 126 and three abstentions following many rows and much wrangling, including within the coalition supporting Premier Giorgia Meloni's executive.
The bill features around 22 billion euros in new measures, including 3.5 billion added in a late government amendment.
The budget had caused tension within the ruling coalition with changes affecting the requirements for people to be able to start taking their State pension early causing outrage, including from Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti's own League party.
These issues were ironed out but unions and opposition parties have continued to lambast the budget, saying it does not do enough to boost growth or address the needs of the national health system, among other things.
It has also been criticised for raising defence spending in line with United States President Donald Trump's demands on NATO, and hiking diesel fuel duties, allegedly reneging on a key Meloni pre-election pledge before she came to power in September 2022.
