The main business lobby group in Italy, Confindustria, is holding talks with the government about the possibility of gas rationing, it was announced by the organisation’s chief on Monday.
The measures would be put in place to lower risks associated with a complete stop to Russian gas flows this coming winter, Confindustria’s Carlo Bonomi told a news conference in Rome.
“We are trying to analyse how best to intervene in the event of rationing. We are working to make sure that nothing takes us by surprise,” he commented.
Italy has been attempting to reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports and increase storage levels, and last week detailed plans to lower consumption during winter by turning down the heating within public and private residential buildings, Reuters reports.
The Confindustria head went on to say that there are opportunities for modifications to be made to the country’s EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
Bonomi said the plans were drawn up before the energy crisis was exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and turned it into “an economic earthquake.”
Giorgia Meloni, the favourite to become Italy’s prime minister following the election on 25th September, has stated Italy should be able to make changes to the recovery plan to alleviate pressures associated with soaring energy prices, the Reuters report goes on to say.
However, critics have expressed concerns that drastic changes to the plan could threaten up to €200 billion of European Union funding for the country’s post-pandemic recovery.
The head of Confindustria also added that interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank could exacerbate Italy’s public debt.