Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – "Director, I will not sign. If the Council of State deems it appropriate, it can appoint a commissioner," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responded by phone with Adnkronos. "Everyone will assume their own responsibilities. But in good conscience, I cannot sign a Prime Ministerial Decree that would allocate almost a billion euros to magistrates' salary increases.
It's ten times more than what I'm seeking just to address the road haulage issue and prevent a halt to goods deliveries throughout Italy. After that, if the representative associations want to find a solution together, I'm ready, as always, to listen, especially because I'm convinced that most magistrates understand the current situation and priorities."
The Prime Minister is returning from a lengthy European Council meeting in Brussels, which largely focused on fuel prices and inflation, which are weighing on families and businesses.
These days, they say, he's been in and out of meetings and summits to find the resources needed to support those hardest hit by the global economic crisis: road haulage, farmers, fishermen, and families. Estimates suggest at least €100 million is needed for road haulage alone. The government is seeking them item by item, because every euro counts.
And at the same time, the Prime Minister is expected to sign the Prime Ministerial Decree to implement the rulings establishing a new calculation method for adjusting magistrates' salaries and ordering the government to also pay their arrears. Specifically, the estimated pay is up to approximately €100, including arrears, for each magistrate, plus an increase of approximately €20.000 per year for subsequent years.
But how did this monstrous sum come about? Unlike other categories, magistrates' salary increases are not decided through bargaining. They are adjusted every three years by law, taking the increases for other public employees as a reference. The government calculates the amount based on ISTAT parameters and sets it with a Prime Ministerial Decree. With the method used to date by previous governments, according to the figures just released, the increases were 4,85% for 2018-2020 and 6,69% for 2021-2023.
But the National Association of Magistrates and other magistrates' associations appealed, arguing that the calculation system needed to be revised, and the magistrates of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) and the Council of State agreed with them. Thus, with the new method, the increases rise to 6,22% and 12,32%, almost double the amount for the last three years. The cost of this recalculation for the Italian state would be €979 million. In short, one billion euros. The government, through the State Attorney's Office, appealed. But the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) and the Council of State ruled in favor of the government and in favor of the appellants.
"The actual amounts are far lower than those reported in the newspapers," the ANM explained to Adnkronos in recent days. "Moreover, these are salary components due by law, which the administration has failed to pay for years," the ANM added. "These amounts are the direct consequence of accumulated payment delays." Now, if the Prime Minister doesn't sign the bill, the Council of State is expected to appoint a commissioner ad acta. "I don't want to stir up controversy," Meloni said, "but in good conscience, I don't feel like signing this measure right now."
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