Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet approved a range of measures that include a push to spur foreign investment and the expansion of the number of taxi licenses, Italian news agencies reported Monday.
(Bloomberg) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet approved a range of measures that include a push to spur foreign investment and the expansion of the number of taxi licenses, Italian news agencies reported Monday.
In their final cabinet session before the summer vacation, Meloni and her ministers ratified some unfinished business in a so-called omnibus “assets and investment” decree.
Several norms deal with competition issues and protection of consumers, with Meloni trying to satisfy different parts of her governing coalition and electorate.
Reports of the decree’s passage in Italian media, including the Ansa newswire, confirmed the contents of a draft decree that had been widely circulated before the cabinet meeting.
An overhaul of the taxi sector aims to enable the issuance of extra licenses to deal with high demand linked to tourism and special events like the upcoming 2025 Jubilee in Rome and the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.
Italy’s competition authority opened a probe into the taxi sector last week saying it had found major problems with services in cities including Rome, Naples and Milan.
Read more: Italy’s Meloni Wants to Help Tourists Struggling to Hail a Taxi
The decree also clamps down on airlines’ use of algorithms to set ticket prices — particularly for internal connections to the islands of Sicily and Sardinia — to try to protect consumers against sudden spikes in prices.
Another measure empowers the government to nominate an extraordinary commissioner for large foreign investment programs to simplify and speed up procedures. That’s part of Meloni’s plan to spur investments in the country while maintaining a strong grip on the process.
Other items include aid for the wine and fishing sectors and assistance for smaller towns in paying for infrastructure works.
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