 On 24 September 2004, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with unions allowing access to a bridging loan from the Italian government.Alitalia's troubles had now become so severe that Consob, Italy's stock market regulator, required it henceforth to report monthly on its debt and cash positions.The government could in 2006 no longer offer support to the failing airline since it had been forbidden by the European Union to inject new capital.