"The provisions introduced by the Budget Law n. 243 of 2012, aimed at guaranteeing that Regions and Local Authorities contribute to the achievement of public finance objectives set in Europe and structured according to the community rules, coexist with the norms having source in the juridical-accounting regulation of territorial bodies, to guarantee a overall financial balance. Therefore, the territorial bodies have the obligation to respect the balance established by the art. 9, paragraphs 1 and 1-bis, of Law no. 243, also as a prerequisite for the legitimate reduction of indebtedness aimed at investments (art. 10, paragraph 3, law n. 243), to be interpreted according to the principles of law enucleated by the Constitutional Court, without prejudice also to the obligation of the territorial bodies themselves of compliance with the overall financial balances prescribed by the accounting standard of reference and other public finance regulations that set qualitative or quantitative limits on the opening of mortgages or on the use of other forms of debt".
This is what emerges from the ruling of the Sections gathered during the audit of the Court of Auditors on a question of principle proposed by the Regional Control Section for Trentino - Alto Adige / Südtirol - Trento Branch which had asked whether “art. 1, paragraph 821 of law no. 145 of 2018, in requiring local authorities to achieve, in the final balance, an overall financial balance of competence, has implicitly repealed art. 9, paragraphs 1 and 1-bis, of law no. 243 which, in implementation of art. 81, sixth paragraph, of the Constitution, has imposed the observance of a partial balance between the income and expenses qualified as "final", according to the achievement of the annual objectives set at European level ".