BRUSSELS – Europe awaits Italy's anti-crisis measures. On the eve of a European Council that will have to make crucial decisions that can no longer be postponed for financial and monetary stability, we look with apprehension at our country and at a government that appears to be in difficulty. "We are waiting for Italy to put its measures on the table," said Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansens and Amadeu Altafaj, spokespersons respectively for the president of the European Commission, Josè Manuel Barroso, and for the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn It is expected that tomorrow "Berlusconi will say what measures he intends to adopt".
Meanwhile, in the uncertainty that accompanies these hours, from Brussels they are trying to show off security: "The president (Barroso, ed.) is convinced that Italy will respond" to the requests, underlined Ahrenkilde-Hansen, also because "Italy and the Italian government have shown determination in wanting to speed up the reforms”. At the moment, however, mouths are closed in view of tomorrow's delicate meeting. To those who ask whether Europe already has the tools to respond should Italy present itself empty-handed, the answer is cautious. “We are waiting, nothing can be said at the moment,” Ahrenkilde-Hansen and Altafaj replied. However, the latter wanted to underline how Italy has not suffered "any humiliation".
The request for anti-crisis measures, he recalled, "depends on the governance of the European Union", made up of "discipline in tax matters and integration". Therefore, Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansens and Amadeu Altafaj pointed out together, the Commission "has not launched any challenge", nor has it wanted to undermine Italy's sovereignty in any way. Simply "we have 27 sovereign countries that agree to increase the surveillance and integration of the common economic policy", and in this perspective Italy "must adopt all the necessary measures" to face the crisis and to "stabilize the euro".
Italy, added the spokesmen for Barroso and Rehn, is therefore asked for "a package of macroeconomic policies", which look beyond just the control of public spending. "Austerity - underlined Ahrenkilde-Hansen and Altafaj - by itself does not solve the problems". Therefore, "along with budgetary consolidation, structural reforms are needed, and the two things must go hand in hand".
