It has less to do with money and more to do with competence. As an Italian I've learnt the hard way how ignorant and competent there Italian government is from a technical standpoint.
I'm pretty sure everybody says this about their country. I've noticed it's kind of like how everyone thinks their state's/country's weather is uniquely unpredictable.
Nothing new in the EU Zone, unfortunately. That's why we have these regulators in the first place.