Tajani hits back at Audit Court over NRRP

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 31 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday hit back at the Audit Court for allegedly exceeding its remit and stepping from the judicial into the legislative sphere by criticising rumoured government plans to rein in its powers of oversight over the EU-funded post COVID National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which has got bogged down.
    Tajani, no 2 in three-time ex premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, accused the court of not respecting the division of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial fields and said he preferred judges who "work in silence and apply the law".
    On Monday the court voiced "shock and dismay" at reports of the government's alleged plans to curb its oversight powers over the NRRP and tax matters.
    Tajani said Wednesday: "In Italy there is legislative, executive and judicial power: when one invades the territory of the other there is something wrong.
    "The Court must apply itself in accounting justice, it must judge afterwards not give a preventive opinion, it is not up to judges to make proposals.
    "The judiciary must exercise judicial power not political power". The deputy premier, foreign minister and FI chair concluded: "I myself always prefer judges who work in silence and apply the law." (ANSA).