Palazzo Chigi, 16 October: Italy and the European Commission have reached a “common understanding” on the measures in the DL Bollette (decree-law 21/2026). Economica.net headlined that the plan “has been approved”. The communiqué says something else: Italy will notify the temporary measures as state aid, and the Commission will assess them as a priority. This is not a published compatibility decision. The bill is not already lower.

The aim, still Chigi: to cut the impact of energy costs and of gas on the electricity price, for households and firms, without distorting the internal market. The frame: METSAF (Middle East Temporary State Aid Framework) and sectoral law. Il Sole 24 Ore: article 6 of the decree must be rewritten, on an “Iberian” model adapted. The mechanism will compensate only the rise in gas costs, not ETS, which was in the draft Brussels blocked. Benefits must reach the end consumer. Those who benefit pay — households on variable contracts, a Commission spokesperson said, quoted by Sole.

The government wants a cap around €60/MWh, for at least a year. That is their aim, not the notified figure. After the assessment, a new decree and another pass through the Council of Ministers. ARERA still has to write the cost-recovery frame. Pichetto Fratin: “an important first step”. Vannia Gava: without compromising industrial resilience. Their lines.

The Commission, in the June country report cited by Economica: Italian prices remain among the highest in the EU; gas set the price in 61.4% of hours in 2024; wholesale 2025, €116/MWh against an EU average of €85. That is the Commission’s analysis, not a finding that the mechanism will cut 116 to 60.

Economica compares Romania: spot about €108/MWh last year, gas under 20% of the mix against about 41% in Italy. Mintia, Iernut, a reactor offline — that is their scenario, not a timetable of ours. We have not written that Bucharest has the same deal.

Friday’s understanding. Notification, then assessment. Until then, the DL Bollette is not “EU-approved” as state aid.

Image: Palazzo Chigi, Rome, 9 September 2017, ScareCriterion12, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The building, not a bill.

Sources consulted: Decree-Law on Energy Bills: Italy and European Commission reach understanding to protect households and businesses — Italian Government; Utility Bills Decree: what the agreement signed by the Government at the European Council entails — Il Sole 24 Ore.