Italy referred to EU court over child benefit

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 25 - The European Commission said Thursday that it has referred Italy to the EU Court of Justice over restrictions on access to the 'assegno unico' child-allowance benefit for foreign workers.
    Introduced in 2022, the benefit gives parents a monthly sum ranging from a minimum of 54 euros per household per child aged up to the age of 21 to a maximum of 189 euros per child, with low-earning families getting more.
    It is part of efforts to help families and encourage people to have children in Italy, where the birth rate has been declining for many years.
    The Commission said the fact workers who have not resided for at least two years in Italy and those whose children do not reside in Italy are not eligible amounts to discrimination against mobile workers and breaches EU law on social security coordination.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni has said that it is "surreal" that Italy faces an infringement procedure over the 'assegno unico', arguing it would become unaffordable if it had to be given to workers whose children are not in Italy and would lead to a high number of fraudulent claims.
    She has vowed to wage a battle over this issue. (ANSA).