Regarding the 2008-09 contract, it should be noted that the accounts on a current legislation basis include: € billion for an indemnity in 2008 for late signing of the new contract. Other increases in current expenditure regard the ministries € billion), the armed forces € billion) and social policies € billion).
For the first time since 1999, the rules of the domestic stability pact remain substantially unchanged; this contributes to the stability of the legislation and accordingly to its effectiveness. The structure of the pact outlined in the 2007 Finance Law, centred on local government monitoring of balances rather than expenditure, is confirmed.