Cross-border workers, M5S VCO asks for answers on NASpI and healthcare (cross-border guide)

Context

In brief

• The interministerial table met on September 17.
• The next meeting is scheduled for November 9, 2026.
• NASpI, health contributions, and tax options remain open issues.
• M5S VCO is requesting a binding timetable.

• Table → second session on September 17 in Rome
• Start → February 2025
• Next meeting → November 9, 2026, at the Ministry of Labour
• Health contribution → introduced on January 1, 2024
• Trade unions → CGIL, CISL, and UIL

On September 17, in Rome, the second session of the interministerial table on cross-border work was limited, according to the Movimento 5 Stelle VCO, to confirming the operating procedures provided for by the regulations. This is the second step of a table established in February 2025 and tasked with defining a statute for cross-border workers.

The group returns to the topic following the press release of August 10, which had gathered the appeal of the unions at the Festa della Lucciola in Villadossola. The update stems from two events on the same day: the meeting in Rome and the statements made by Alberto Preioni, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Piedmont Region, who attended the table representing the Region.

The dossiers indicated by the unions

According to the Movement's reconstruction, the core issue is the failure to move to a substantive discussion. A year and a half after the start and months after the first meeting, workers are waiting for answers on issues that directly affect their income and rights. The CGIL, CISL, and UIL organizations reiterated this in a joint note signed by Giuseppe Augurusa, Marco Contessa, and Pancrazio Raimondo.

Among the requests is the implementing circular on the treatment of NASpI in the first months of payment, a topic linked to cross-border unemployment. The note also asks to safeguard the principle of non-double taxation regarding the health contribution introduced on January 1, 2024, which still lacks the implementing decree. Also mentioned are the full implementation of the tax option for trans-cantonal cross-border workers—the so-called 'omnibus decree', agreed with the Mef but not shared by the border Cantons; the study on extending conventional salaries to weekly cross-border workers; and the full application of the Single and Universal Allowance for incoming and outgoing cross-border workers.

The parties have committed to exchanging written observations before the appointment on November 9, 2026, at the Ministry of Labour. Preioni described the meeting as important and reiterated the need for clear, certain, and homogeneous rules, announcing the same date. For M5S VCO, however, without timelines, solutions on the Health Tax, or concrete indications on NASpI, refunds, and double taxation, the result remains a further postponement.

Operational details

The practical point is not a new rule, but the distance between the functioning of the table and the expected responses. The source does not report measures already operational after September 17: it reports the commitment to exchange written observations and a new date. For a cross-border worker, the update therefore describes a state of waiting regarding income and rights, not an applicable change.

The Health Tax Issue

The M5S VCO focuses its criticism on the health contribution, also called the 'Health Tax'. According to the reconstruction contained in the press release, the measure continues to be applied in Lombardy and not in Piedmont. The Movement defines this difference as a paradox: two border Regions, both governed by the center-right led by the Lega, adopt opposite treatments on the same matter. The source also links the two Regions to the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, a representative of the Lega, who signed the decree establishing the contribution.

This reading leads the group to speak of an internal short-circuit within the same area. The practical point remains as indicated: no solution on the Health Tax is announced, no deadline for the implementing decree is indicated, and the effect on the individual payslip is not quantified. The avoidance of double taxation remains among the topics to be discussed, along with NASpI, refunds, and the tax option. The press release, therefore, distinguishes between a political request and an announced rule.

The same applies to the Ticino-Italy refunds: the press release mentions them among the issues without providing a concrete decision. The scope of the source must be kept narrow. The text does not name the Canton of Ticino and does not announce news on G permits, AVS, LPP, or LAMal; it does not describe a change in the withholding tax and does not use the formula 'new 2026 tax agreement'. These arguments cannot be presented as the outcome of the September 17 meeting.

The Lombardy-Piedmont comparison makes the inhomogeneity contested by the Movement visible, but does not provide the reader with a uniform solution. For this reason, the concrete element to observe is whether a binding timetable requested by M5S VCO will emerge on November 9, starting with the health contribution, or only a new procedural step.

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Key points

The operational step, until the next meeting, consists of separating what has been decided from what the press release still asks to be decided. The source allows for following the matter with a precise grid, without attributing effects to November 9, 2026, that have not been announced. The text does not describe an individual procedure; therefore, it does not allow for the indication of forms or documents to be submitted. For the reader, the concrete action is to monitor the dossiers and verify whether the discussion moves from operational rules to specific measures.

Verification in five steps

1. First, use November 9, 2026, as the verification date for the commitment made by the parties to exchange written observations. The location indicated by the source is the Ministry of Labour.

2. Second, regarding NASpI, verify whether the request for an implementing circular on the treatment during the first months of disbursement is transformed into a concrete act. The source does not yet announce that step.

3. Third, regarding the healthcare contribution, check if the timeline requested by M5S VCO includes the implementing decree and starts from the contribution introduced on January 1, 2024. This is the first point indicated by the Movement's proposal.

4. Fourth, separate the tax option for cross-cantonal frontier workers from its actual implementation: the text describes it as agreed with the Mef but not shared by the border Cantons. Do not call it a solution that is already uniform.

5. Fifth, verify if the discussion also addresses the study on conventional remuneration for weekly frontier workers and the full application of the 'Assegno Unico e Universale' (Single and Universal Allowance) for incoming and outgoing frontier workers.

M5S VCO has also indicated the criterion by which to judge the outcome: a binding timeline for the still-missing implementing decrees, starting with the healthcare contribution. It has also requested that the Piedmont Region and the Lombardy Region report in public and verifiable forums on the opposing criteria adopted regarding the 'Health Tax'. The third proposal is a unitary coordination between trade unions, political forces, and press bodies of Piedmont, Lombardy, and Switzerland.

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Source: vconews.it