The Italian Government announced a package of aid for truckers and agricultural and fisheries sectors in response to protests that have blocked the south of the country, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.
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22/10/2026
by
Lusa
O Italian government a package of aid for truck drivers and for agricultural and fisheries sectors, hoping that the protests that have blocked southern Italy will end, said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today.
“ The funds already being disbursed under an agreement with road transport associations and new measures for farmers and fishermen have been approved today by the Council of Ministers. The government is listening to those who protest peacefully and are working to present concrete solutions,” Meloni announced in a video published in his official social media account.
The leader of the right-wing and extreme-right-wing executive warned that she will not tolerate “intimidation”, saying that the blockades are still going on, and “not a protest”, because “in some areas, some individuals continue to block the roads, threaten those who want to work and slash the tires of their colleagues’ trucks”.
Therefore, he asked the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, “to grant the request of the associations representing truckers, farmers and the retail sector, in order to guarantee the free movement of goods and their supply to businesses and, therefore, to citizens”, ensuring that “all the instruments provided for in the law, including the provisions of the security decree that made roadblocking a crime, will be used.”.
With regard to the aid package, he pointed out that today “funds already being disbursed under an agreement with road transport associations” reached on the eve, “and new measures for farmers and fishermen”
In view of the worsening situation, especially in the south of the country, with blockades of trucks that left many shelves of empty supermarkets and fuel-free service areas, Meloni called for today a Council of Ministers, which approved an aid package of around EUR 126 million.
Most of the resources of the approved decree are intended for truck drivers, with about half of the package allocation (EUR 66.4 million) to be used to increase tax credit for diesel purchases between March and August.
In this way, the total allocation of the aid package for heavy goods drivers amounts to almost EUR 500 million, explaining to the executive that the funds already announced (434 million) will be unlocked, while the new resources will be available from today.
Of the extraordinary package announced today, around EUR 60 million in aid is for farmers, while support of around EUR 10 million is reserved for the fisheries sector.
Even before the Council of Ministers in Rome today, the truckers had already decided to suspend the protests against fuel prices in Calabria, southern Italy, which was the epicenter of blockades, which later extended to other neighbouring regions.
The suspension of the protests, which started last week and included roadblocks, allowed for the resumption of food deliveries, with fresh fruit and vegetables re-appearing progressively this morning in the Calabria markets and supermarkets, and also cistern trucks began to refuel the service stations throughout the region, many of which had run out of gasoline and diesel.
Calabria had been the epicentre of the truckers' protests, which, according to the industrial associations of the neighbouring regions of Campania and Apulia, were placing many of their companies associated with the brink of collapse.
The Italian air traffic management agency, ENAV, reported on Wednesday that Crotone and Reggio Calabria airports ran out of fuel for aircraft due to supply disruptions.
Today, protests against rising prices have spread from the transport and agricultural sectors to the fisheries sector, with many vessels remaining docked in the Adriatic ports.
In Sicily, an island in southern Italy, the protests had already been suspended on Tuesday, after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini met with associations of road hauliers in Milan and the government announced that 480 million euros were on the way to help the truckers.
On Wednesday, 11 associations of road transport companies issued a joint declaration calling on the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantodosi, to intervene in the removal of roadblocks still paralyzing the southern peninsula.
With the situation becoming critical, the Government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni adopted a tougher line of action on Wednesday, with the Ministry of Interior reporting that 1,339 individuals had been identified and 71 reported to the authorities due to road blockades.