The new structure requires that local entities have significant margins of financial autonomy. Several new provisions, with costs amounting to € billion, are introduced to resolve problems that emerged in the first year of applying the new rules for local authorities.
The objectives set for those that on average recorded a budget surplus in the three years 200305 have been made less demanding; the administrative surplus can be used to finance investment expenses. An adjustment is introduced for the authorities that recorded extraordinary one-off revenue in the period 2003-05, making the objective (calculated on the basis of the results in the same period) less stringent.