Without an implementing decree a law is worth little. In fact, these provisions serve to set the “boundaries” of a provision and make it operational: until the publication of the decree even an approved regulation fails to produce effects and the funds remain blocked. The Meloni government has accumulated 467 of these implementing decrees, worth over 2.8 billion euros. Inside there is everything, from laws approved by previous governments to bonuses and measures contained in the latest financial measure.
What the Meloni government did from 2022 to 2026
According to the latest report published by Palazzo Chigi on the monitoring of legislative and implementing provisions, from 22 October 2022 to 30 June 2026 the Council of Ministers approved 527 legislative acts in 179 sessions: 132 decree-laws, 186 legislative decrees and 209 bills. 66% concerned sector policies, 19% the transposition of European standards and 15% international ratifications.
The Government’s acts have provided for 1,408 implementing measures. As of June 30, 941 had been “disposed of”, a formula that includes those adopted and the 80 acts repealed or superseded by subsequent regulations. There are 467 left to adopt, of which 182 have expired. 243 do not provide an adoption date. Thus, the official implementation rate is 66.8%, which rises to 69.4% also including the stock inherited from the previous legislature.
The report highlights that the use of implementing decrees is decreasing and that 88.54% of the resources provided for by Government laws are now linked to self-implementing rules, which therefore do not require second level acts. But billions of euros still remain suspended to be released through ad hoc decrees.
The 2.8 billion euros blocked
From the processing of the Department’s databases for the government program updated to July 2026, the 467 implementing decrees to be adopted translate into 2.828 billion euros blocked. Some are following their normal process, others have expired, that is, they have gone beyond the date on which it was expected to regularize them with precise indications.
An example is that of bonuses, in which the audience must be defined together with the funding distribution criteria and particular cases. Of this figure, 920.2 million are linked to measures that have already expired. Over 1.8 billion instead depend on acts without a set deadline for which government action can be considered formally late.
The 2026 budget law halved: 69 out of 103 provisions are missing
The most immediate case is the 2026 budget law. The maneuver provided for 103 implementing provisions, but as of June 30, only 34 had been completed. Therefore, 69 are missing: 32 already expired, 35 without deadline and two with an expiration not yet reached. The implementation rate thus stops at 33 percent.
Among the supports directly aimed at families, students and workers, at least 71.3 million are still not operational for 2026. There are 20 million for contributions on high school books for families with ISEE up to 30 thousand euros, 20 million for the contribution of up to 1,500 euros for private school students, 20 million for housing support for separated or divorced parents, 6 million to allow women victims of violence to access subordinate services to ISEE, 3.3 million for the transition to part-time for workers with at least three children and 2 million for the digital voucher for gluten-free products.
The decrees relating to part-time work, the fund for women victims of violence and the voucher for gluten-free products have already passed the deadline for funding for 2026 alone: together they are worth 11.3 million. The other three interventions, for a total of 60 million, do not have a regulatory deadline. The act on the revolving fund for tenants in innocent arrears has also expired, but the amount is not available
Not everything that is still incomplete is already overdue. For example, the “Valore Cultura” bonus awaits the decree on amounts, criteria and methods of use, but the deadline is set for 30 November 2026. The indicated allocation is 180 million for 2027.
Healthcare, mountains and tourism: where the cards stopped
Healthcare concentrates around 349 million associated with expired decrees. The major chapter is the National Action Plan for Mental Health: the distribution decree, to be adopted by 1 May 2026, is worth 80 million in 2026 and 255 million also considering 2027 and 2028. Another 100 million for the two-year period 2025-2026 depend on the decree on the performance indicators of regional health services, which expired on 30 June 2025. They also remain 50 million for 2026 intended for pharmaceutical companies for class A medicines with a price of up to ten euros.
The mountain law is struggling: out of 24 planned acts, only one had been adopted, while 14 had already expired. The measures beyond the deadline concern approximately 178.5 million by 2026: incentives for healthcare and school personnel in mountain areas, tax credits for healthcare professionals and the purchase or renovation of the main home, support for agile working and the activities of farmers and foresters.
Also expired are the decrees of 50 million per year in the three-year period 2026-2028 for tourism supply chains, the one of 35 million per year for the production of stainless steel through recycled materials, a ministerial decree of 100 million to redevelop the properties used by third sector entities and the 65 million provision on donations of IT material to schools, kindergartens and welfare facilities.
The 80 acts left by Conte and Draghi
To the provisions of the Meloni Government are added 80 decrees inherited from the eighteenth legislature: 7 of Conte I, 22 of Conte II and 51 of the Draghi Government. There were 378 when the current executive took office, which therefore closed 298. The remainder are mainly concentrated in Environment, with 16 acts, Infrastructure with 12 and Business with 7.
The report does not indicate how many of the 80 have expired, how many are open-ended and how much remains subject to their adoption. However, we know that the resources made available through the inherited measures already adopted amount to 9.616 billion.
The great deception: 150 billion electoral promises without a single euro of coverage (we pay)
In any case, as of 30 June the amount of implementing decrees to be adopted remains significant: adding the two stocks, 547 measures are still needed. The percentage rate of implementation has improved, but the distance between an approved rule and a truly accessible measure, such as a bonus, continues to be measured by hundreds of decrees.
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