The obligation to ensure financial coverage for law measures established by art. 81 of the Constitution was for decades the only constraint on State expenditure decisions. In the 1990s the Maastricht treaty and the Stability and growth pact radically altered the reference context. Does this mean that the provisions of art. 81 can be disregarded? The authors of this book do not believe that is possible. The text thus offers a grounded examination of the procedure for the financial assessment of legislative measures and of relative coverage, of how this is done in the various institutions involved, and of the difficulties encountered for the correct and profitable application of this constitutional norm.