At 6:19 p.m. Rome time on October 28, 2026, the news agency ANSA ran this headline: “Mase, 14 billion in the Council of Ministers for energy transition and energy security” (my translation). The Council of Ministers (Cdm in Italian), Italy’s cabinet, which is the government and not Parliament, had ended at 4:56 p.m. I opened the official press release no. 195 of the Council of Ministers and looked for that number. As of the date I consulted it, October 29, 2026, it is not in the press release.

The 2027 budget package (the “manovra”) allocates resources to energy measures, that is, public money for railways, schools, hospitals and businesses, and that 14 comes from a note from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), reported by the press. So where does it come from?

What the press release says

The press release mentions energy in several places and in none of them gives an amount for the energy measures. The budget package as a whole is worth about 26 billion euros in 2027 and 27 billion in 2028. The funding, meaning the money that pays for the spending, comes mostly from activating the clauses and from higher revenues, including those from the energy sector.

The clauses are the budget-flexibility ones. In practice, Italy can spend more than European rules usually allow, but with its own money: these are not EU funds. The sources use different names for the same mechanism: the press release calls it the “energy clause,” the ministry’s note and the newspapers call it flexibility, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls it the National Escape Clause (NEC), in Italian the “clausola di salvaguardia nazionale” (national safeguard clause). From here on I write just “clause.”

According to the European Commission, in its guidelines of August 17, 2026, the specific limits for energy security measures are 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) per year and 0.6% in total, for the period 2026-2028 and only for measures adopted after February 28, 2026. The eligible measures, the Commission writes, must be financed at the national level.

There is only one clause. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, Italy requests it for two uses, energy and defense (the MEF writes “energy and security”), each worth about 0.3% of GDP per year. That is why in several sources the energy figures appear together with the defense ones.

For infrastructure the press release provides for “substantial resources,” in part but not only through the clause, with particular attention to railways and the road network. Other resources go to energy-efficiency upgrades (cutting the energy consumption of buildings) at hospitals, schools, universities, research institutes and sports facilities.

The measures are in the 2027 budget bill (the “ddl,” a bill that Parliament still has to pass), proposed by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. I did not read the text: it does not appear to be published yet. ReteAgevolazioni writes that “The text of the DDL is not yet available,” and I did not find it on the websites of the government, the State General Accounting Office (Ragioneria generale dello Stato), the MEF and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate’s site does not open.

The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, of which Gilberto Pichetto Fratin is minister, appears in the press release only spelled out, never with the acronym MASE. It appears, for example, in connection with a decree-law (an urgent measure that takes effect immediately and that Parliament must then convert into law) on the cost of electricity and gas that the Council, at the minister’s proposal, postponed: the press release does not say when it will come back for consideration or why.

The ministry’s note

The note is reported by at least seven outlets, including ANSA (“The ministry announced it”). The text, identical across several articles, is published in full by AGEEI without stating the source; only Ingenio gives the MASE press release as its source.

I could not read the note itself: the link that Rinnovabili places under the minister’s statements does not open (it returns a 404, page not found), and in the list of press releases on the MASE website, which I could open on October 29, I did not find it.

It opens like this: “More than 14 billion euros to support the energy transition.” They are, it continues, “MASE measures that fall within the perimeter of flexibility linked to energy,” approved by the Council of Ministers. The phrase may mean measures proposed by the ministry, within its remit, or managed by it: in the texts I read, the note does not distinguish, and it does not indicate the legal instrument.

According to the note, the line items are these:

  • Rail network: more than 5 billion.
  • Energy-intensive companies (“energivore” in Italian: large energy consumers): 2.5 billion.
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs; “PMI” in Italian) that are not energy-intensive: 3.53 billion.
  • Solar photovoltaics: 1.2 billion.
  • Hydroelectric reservoirs: 800 million.
  • Biomethane: 700 million.
  • Schools: 650 million.
  • Hospitals: 600 million.
  • Universities, sports facilities and research centers: 250 million.

Adding up the line items, and counting more than 5 as 5, I get about 15.2 billion: more than 14, so consistent with the note’s total.

The 14 and the other numbers

“14” is not a single number. There are at least four different figures in the sources: about 29 billion over two years, 14.4 billion a year, 7.2 and 7. Here they are, with the source and date of each:

  • MEF (“Documento programmatico di finanza pubblica,” a public finance programmatic document; page dated October 6, 2026, which reports the request to activate the clause): resources “up to about 29 billion in the 2027-28 biennium,” for energy and security together.
  • Il Fatto Quotidiano (October 2, 2026): 14.4 billion of flexibility in 2027 and the same in 2028. In the body of the article, 14.4 billion is the annual total for energy and defense: 0.3% of GDP, that is 7.2 billion, for defense and another 0.3% for energy; the headline, however, speaks of 14.4 billion for energy and 14.4 for defense.
  • Energia Oltre (October 12, 2026): 7.2 billion for energy in 2027, without citing a source.
  • Avvenire (October 13, 2026): an informal note from Palazzo Chigi (the prime minister’s office) speaks of 7 billion for energy and 7 for defense in 2027.

The note’s 14 may resemble more than one of these figures. For example, doubling 7.2 I get 14.4, and adding the 7 for energy and the 7 for defense I get 14: two ways of arriving at a number close to the note’s. But no source links them to the ministry’s note, which does not say what period its 14 refers to.

AGEEI’s headline speaks of more than 14 billion from EU flexibility, and is easily read as European funds. I did not find the approval of the Council of the European Union: according to Avvenire, citing government sources, the procedure that activates the clause should be completed at the Eurogroup (the finance ministers of the euro area), convened for November 9.

Who manages what

One question remains: who manages these measures. Neither the press release nor the note, as the outlets report it, indicates which administration or which body will carry them out. In Meloni’s opening statement, the part of the press conference that I found transcribed on the government’s website, neither the 14 billion, nor the MASE, nor Minister Pichetto Fratin appears. I did not watch the video or read the statements of the other ministers.

But these spending items are not new. The press release speaks of railways and the road network and of energy-efficiency upgrades at hospitals, schools and universities, and Meloni says that the resources of the energy clause (she calls it NEC Energia) finance energy-efficiency upgrades at universities and hospitals.

For now the 14 has an origin, the ministry’s note, and an open question: who manages the resources. It remains to be seen how the bill will allocate the resources once the text is available.

Sources

Accessed October 29, 2026. All sources are in Italian; titles are given in the original. Quotations from them in the text are my translations. I mark the type of each source: official, institutional, press.

  1. Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, “Comunicato stampa del Consiglio dei Ministri n. 195,” October 28, 2026. Official. https://www.governo.it/it/articolo/comunicato-stampa-del-consiglio-dei-ministri-n-195/32973
  2. Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, “Conferenza stampa del Consiglio dei Ministri 195, l’intervento del Presidente Meloni,” October 28, 2026. Official; contains only the opening statement. https://www.governo.it/it/articolo/conferenza-stampa-del-consiglio-dei-ministri-195-lintervento-del-presidente-meloni/32969
  3. MASE note of October 28, 2026: not found on the ministry’s website (the Rinnovabili link returns a 404); text identical across several reports, including AGEEI (source 6). Official, not read.
  4. ANSA, “Mase, in Cdm 14 miliardi per transizione e sicurezza energetica,” Rome, October 28, 2026, 6:19 p.m. Press. https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/economia/2026/10/28/mase-in-cdm-14-miliardi-per-transizione-e-sicurezza-energetica_b0ed1ddb-947b-46fd-b35b-891419bbd117.html
  5. Teleborsa, “Energia, Mase: dal Cdm oltre 14 miliardi dalla flessibilità Nec,” October 28, 2026. Press. https://teleborsa.ansa.it/notiziario/economia/energia-mase-dal-cdm-oltre-14-miliardi-dalla-flessibilita-nec/
  6. AGEEI, “Manovra: MASE, oltre 14 miliardi da flessibilità Ue per sostenere transizione,” October 28, 2026, 8:20 p.m. Press; full text of the note, without stating the source. https://ageei.eu/manovra-mase-oltre-14-miliardi-da-flessibilita-ue-per-sostenere-transizione/
  7. MeteoWeb, Stefano Vitetta, “Energia, oltre 14 miliardi dal governo: 6 miliardi per le imprese, fondi per bollette, scuole, ospedali e rinnovabili,” October 28, 2026, 6:22 p.m. Press. https://www.meteoweb.eu/2026/10/energia-oltre-14-miliardi-dal-governo-6-miliardi-per-le-imprese-fondi-per-bollette-scuole-ospedali-e-rinnovabili/1001996358/
  8. Energia Oltre, Sebastiano Torrini, “Manovra, Mase: oltre 14 miliardi per la transizione, 3,53 miliardi alle PMI e 2,5 agli energivori,” October 28, 2026. Press. https://energiaoltre.it/manovra-mase-oltre-14-miliardi-per-la-transizione-353-miliardi-alle-pmi-e-25-agli-energivori/
  9. Ingenio, “Manovra, oltre 14 miliardi per la transizione energetica: risorse a imprese, rinnovabili ed edifici pubblici,” October 29, 2026. Press. https://www.ingenio-web.it/articoli/manovra-oltre-14-miliardi-per-la-transizione-energetica-risorse-a-imprese-rinnovabili-ed-edifici-pubblici/
  10. Rinnovabili, Erminia Voccia, “Via libera del Consiglio dei Ministri alla Manovra 2027, oltre 14 mld alla transizione energetica,” October 28, 2026. Press. https://www.rinnovabili.it/mercato/politiche-e-normativa/manovra-2027-legge-di-bilancio-energia-transizione-energetica/
  11. Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, page “Documento programmatico di finanza pubblica,” October 6, 2026. Institutional. https://www.mef.gov.it/focus/Documento-programmatico-di-finanza-pubblica-00002/
  12. Commissione europea, Rappresentanza in Italia, “La Commissione adotta orientamenti sulla flessibilità di bilancio per le misure di sicurezza energetica,” August 17, 2026. Institutional. https://italy.representation.ec.europa.eu/notizie-ed-eventi/notizie/la-commissione-adotta-orientamenti-sulla-flessibilita-di-bilancio-le-misure-di-sicurezza-energetica-2026-08-17_it
  13. Il Fatto Quotidiano, Redazione Economia, “Ok del cdm al Documento di finanza pubblica. Giorgetti: ‘La manovra sia prudente’. Chiesti 14,4 miliardi di flessibilità per l’energia e 14,4 per la difesa,” October 2, 2026 (last updated October 3, 11:35 a.m.). Press. https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/10/02/ok-del-cdm-al-documento-programmatico-di-finanza-pubblica-chiesti-14-miliardi-di-flessibilita-per-lenergia-e-14-per-la-difesa/8525986/
  14. Energia Oltre, Bianca Maria Togni, “Manovra, energia e flessibilità Ue: 7,2 miliardi per il 2027, Roma cerca margini contro i rincari,” October 12, 2026. Press. https://energiaoltre.it/manovra-energia-e-flessibilita-ue-72-miliardi-per-il-2027-roma-cerca-margini-contro-i-rincari/
  15. Avvenire, Marco Iasevoli and Gabriele Rosana, “Il governo approva lo ‘scheletro’ della manovra 2027, ma è tutto congelato sino a novembre,” October 13, 2026. Press. https://www.avvenire.it/politica/il-governo-approva-lo-scheletro-della-manovra-2027-ma-e-tutto-congelato-sino-a-novembre_114267
  16. ReteAgevolazioni.it, Franco Rasotto, “Legge di bilancio 2027: misure per le imprese e iter,” October 29, 2026 (updates through October 28). Trade press; does not give a bill number. https://www.reteagevolazioni.it/legge-di-bilancio-2027/