ROME (Reuters) -Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti will ask the European Financial Services Commissioner for clarifications this week over disciplinary steps the EU Commission is set to launch against the government, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Giorgetti is likely to meet the EU’s Maria Luis Albuquerque in Rome on Friday and will take up the question of Brussels’ upcoming proceedings against Italy’s so-called “golden power” legislation used to shield companies operating in strategic sectors, the sources said, asking not be named.
Reuters reported this month that the EU’s executive arm was set to act against the way Italy uses its golden power rules to vet bank mergers.
In July, Italy’s second-biggest bank, UniCredit, withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM, blaming the government’s intervention for scuppering the 15-billion-euro ($17.49 billion) transaction.
Among several conditions, Italy ordered UniCredit to leave Russia by early 2026, ostensibly to prevent any indirect benefit for Moscow from the Banco BPM deal as the Kremlin continues its war against Ukraine.
Italy’s golden power decree on the UniCredit-Banco BPM deal has remained in place even though the deal has been called off.
The EU Commission will order Italy to withdraw the measure, and will also challenge the overall structure of golden power legislation through a separate infringement procedure, sources have said.
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(Reporting By Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini and Gavin Jones)
