Is clash between Italy and the EU on Golden Power of Unicredit. After the Lazio Tar partially accepted the appeal of the Bank of Andrea Orcel, to further complicate things is the opinion of Brussels, which raises doubts about the compatibility with the law of Union. According to a preliminary opinion sent on July 14, 2025, the Italian measure “could violate article 21 of the European concentrations regulation”, as Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the European Commission, officially declared.
TO Palazzo Chigi The prudence line prevails: “We will reply with a collaborative and constructive spirit”, said the executive in an official note.
The acceptance of the TAR
The conflict node dates back to April 18, 2025, when the Italian government imposed a series of constraints regarding the acquisition of Banco BPM On the part of Unicredit, thus resorting to the so -called Golden Power. Among the imposed conditions there are:
- the obligation to close all the activities in Russia in nine months;
- maintenance for five years of the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio of BPM, that is, the same amount of loans granted compared to the deposits collected by customers;
- The ban on reducing national investments to the Banco BPM asset manager just acquired, Anima Holding Spa.
Unicredit replied by challenging the conditions in front of the Lazio Tar, obtaining the suspension of some of these, except for the exit from Russia, and awaits a definitive sentence.
The stop of Brussels
It is worth remembering that on June 19, the European Antitrustust had given the green light to the merger without reliefs. This is why Brussels, after the Golden Power imposed by the government, raised his eyebrow. And he did it with formal communication, according to which the Italian measure “could violate Article 21 of the European Regulation On concentrations “, as Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the European Commission, officially declared.
The legal node is not only the legitimacy of the constraints imposed, but the same claim of Rome to impose them on an operation already blessed by Brussels. In the sights of the EU there is not only the content of the decree, but also the form: Italy would not have notified its intentions in advance, and would have acted without coordinating With Brussels.
The government breaks
In all this, the Italian government He tried not to break up, but without success: Palazzo Chigi released a note explaining that
The Italian government with a collaborative and constructive spirit will respond to the clarifications requested as already done in the jurisdiction in the face of the TAR in the terms and with reasons already considered legitimate by the administrative judges.
A position also reiterated by the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who recalled how “competence is shared” between Rome and Brussels.
But not everyone in the government chose the low profile. The vice premier and minister of infrastructure Matteo Salvini He attacked Europe frontally:
Instead of breaking the boxes on banks, beaches and scooters, you take care of a few serious things and do it well. The banking system is strategic, Italy can and has to do as it believes, without intrusions.
The ball now passes to Italy, which would be oriented to take all the time available to respond, 20 days, while Unicredit seems likely to bring together a board to decide what to do.
