Italy still has “about a month” to decide whether to use the loans (at a subsidized rate) from the European Safe defense program, a total program of 150 billion euros disbursed to the interested capitals in exchange for very specific plans, especially to encourage joint procurement between several European countries (as well as Ukraine) in very specific areas. Otherwise, the share potentially assigned to Rome, equal to 14.9 billion euros, could be redistributed among the other participating countries.
“Clarity will be needed shortly”, they observe from Brussels, while from Rome Defense Minister Guido Crosetto throws water on the fire by calling into question his friend and Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti: “In a few weeks, at the latest by September, we will have to define and approve the chapter relating to the increased defense spending agreed on the basis of international commitments. Whether to finance with the European Safe or with BTPs will depend on interest expenditure”. For Crosetto it will be necessary to increase defense spending by 0.15% per year and – in this context of budget constraints and international pressure – the government has developed a draft bill for the revision of the national military instrument and the establishment of a sort of national guard following the US system with reserve forces ready to be used also for civil protection tasks.
The text is not yet a law: it will have to be examined by the Council of Ministers and subsequently by Parliament, but in the draft seen by The Vermilion the regulatory pillars can be highlighted.
The three pillars of the new reserve
If approved, the reform would introduce three different types of reserves.
The operational reserve would be made up of military personnel already trained and placed on leave for no more than five years. Members would maintain a five-year commitment of irrevocable availability for recall, extendable annually upon request after the fifth year. They could be recalled with their consent for training and training activities or by authorities in the situations provided for by law.
The specialist voluntary reserve would instead be made up of officers, marshals, sergeants and secondary graduates in possession of particular professional skills. The objective is to make technical, medical, engineering, IT, aeronautical or nautical skills available to the Armed Forces and the Single Military Health Corps, which can also be used in peacetime.
The territorial reserve would be aimed at citizens aged between 25 and 35, in possession of at least a lower secondary school diploma. The placement would last twelve months, extendable upon request for another twelve, with an initial training period of at least thirty days. The personnel would be employed mainly in the region or geographical area of recruitment for emergencies, disasters, population relief and support activities for the Police Force.
When the call of authority is triggered
The scheme provides that the government can automatically recall the personnel of the three reserves in the presence of “serious crisis situations likely to have repercussions on the security of the State” or for the defense of national borders.
The recall should be decided by the Council of Ministers, following communication to the President of the Republic. The resolution would then be transmitted to the Chambers, which would have to discuss it within five days and authorize the recall or deny authorization. The government should indicate the objectives, the maximum number of people involved and the planned duration of the deployment.
Tax breaks and incentives
To encourage membership, the bill provides a series of incentives. Private employers of employees belonging to the operational reserve or the specialist voluntary reserve would be entitled to exemption from paying 100% of social security contributions relating to the recall period.
A further relief of 100% would concern the social security and welfare contributions due for the worker hired, on a fixed-term or part-time basis, to replace the recalled employee.
Operational reserve personnel would be paid, for each day of periodic training, a compensation of 130 euros net of costs borne by the State. Anyone who completes all the required training boosters would also receive an annual bonus of 1,300 euros.
The text also establishes a fund intended to finance the unemployment benefit for officers and volunteers on fixed terms who, at the end of their service, are unemployed and have acquired the necessary contribution requirements. The endowment would reach 9,951,856 euros per year starting from 2033.
Objective 2033: up to 40 thousand more soldiers
The delegation to the government provides, by 31 December 2033, a progressive increase in the workforce of no more than 40 thousand units for the Army, Navy, Air Force and single military health corps. However, these are not 40 thousand automatic hires. The increase should be established year by year through the budget law, based on available resources and actual recruitment capabilities. The hypothesized path would start in 2028 and would progressively reach the maximum limit in 2033.
A separate increase of 2,600 units is expected for the Carabinieri, intended to strengthen the integrated defense of the territory, military missions abroad and military police functions. The issue of coverage remains open. In the circulated diagram, the passage that should indicate how to finance the increase in staff is not yet completed. The plan will therefore have to find its technical and financial sustainability in the next budget laws.
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