Budget : Italy and the Commission are in conflict

The european Commission, as guardian of the treaties, had little choice but to reject the draft budget Italian because of its differences "significant" with the common rules in force. It was not a small overflow " borderline ", according to the words of commissioner Pierre Moscovici, in charge of the monitoring of the budget, but a " deviation clear, net, assumed, and, by some, even, claimed Casino siteleri ". Matteo Salvini, who once professed the output of the italy of the euro area, will...

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according to the treaties, Italy now has three weeks to present a new draft budget that takes into account the remarks of the Commission, which is concerned about the increase a result of the Italian debt is already very large (131,2 % of GDP, or € 37 000 per person). During these three weeks, the Commission and the government of Giuseppe Conte are expected to maintain a fruitful dialogue. However, it may turn short in light of the statements made on Monday in Rome by the president of the Council : "We are not a band têtes brulées. If we had adopted a budget law different, we would be in recession. "

First

This is the first time that the Commission found itself in a similar situation. The dispute with Italy does not involve a deferral of charges, or request mitigation of the rules, as in the past when France was claiming an additional period of time to come back under the 3 %. This time, it is a questioning of the rules of the treaties, of their philosophy, that the Italy of the populist challenges, as Luigi di Maio, such as Matteo Salvini believe that the budgetary pressure faced by their country is the cause of its very low growth over the past ten years.

" It is the Italian government, which is legitimate for them to govern this country, whether for the recovery of the investment or the Casinovale fight against poverty, grants to Pierre Moscovici. (...) The Commission will not interfere in anything in its internal choices and legitimate. What concerns me, it is something else. It is the budgetary impact of these policies on the citizens, on the people, and that is what carries the opinion that we have just adopted. "And the Commission to insist : Italy should decrease its public debt, which is" the enemy of the economy and the enemy of the european peoples ".

Into the unknown

In 2017, the interests of the Italian debt accounted for 65 billion euros (so to repay), or the equivalent of the Education budget in Italy. "To reduce this mountain of debt should therefore be a strategic priority for Italy ", says Moscovici. However, the increase in the structural deficit, Italian (both+ 0.8 %) is going to weigh even more on the debt of the peninsula. The growth assumptions are optimistic presented by the government of Storytelling (1.5% in 2019, compared to 1 % expected by most observers, including the IMF) have not convinced the Commission.

Brussels denies having strangled the Italians who, according to the Commission, have benefited from all the flexibilities of the treaty budget (30 billion euros) to take account of earthquakes or the terrorist threat. Moreover, Italy is the second beneficiary of the plan Juncker for a total of 8.5 billion euros. The peninsula is also the second-largest recipient of european funds for the 2014-2020 period (45 billion euros per year, on average). However, it should be noted that Italy is a net contributor to the european budget, to the point that Luigi di Maio, had threatened last summer, at the time of the case of the boat of migrants Diciotti , suspend payments Italian the budget of the EU.

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" Our door is open to the Italian government ", is not afraid to say Pierre Moscovici, at the risk of taking on the fingers. What will happen if the government Tale fail to comply, and maintains its budget spender ? "Then we will go into the unknown," confided one within the Commission. It is now market confidence in the Italian economy which, ultimately, will decide the fate of the Italian government, through their reaction, faster than the procedures of the budgetary treaties...

Consult our folder : Italy : populist in the event of power

On the same subject, The european Commission rejects the budget Italian Date Of Update: 26 October 2018, 00:16