A Eurogroup on fire that of November 5, which preceded the Ecofin scheduled for the 6 and which saw the participation of the number one of the Mef, Giovanni Tria called to defend himself from the rain of criticisms on the Maneuver. "There is neither confrontation nor compromise" with the EU, Tria said, but the maneuver "doesn't change, we are discussing". Italy in fact, is the message, does not want to break with the EU nor does it believe it is a threat to the eurozone, but at the same time it does not intend to change its maneuver and would like to be recognized as an 'exception' in the ambit of existing rules.
On the Italian budget law, "We look forward to November 13th and I don't want to jump to conclusions,” said the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici reaching the Eurogroup. In fact, by that date the Italian Government should submit a new Maneuver that is respectful, this time, of the parameters Europeans, even if the two deputy premiers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini have already ruled out substantial changes.
"We await an answer and I hope we will have an answer", continued Moscovici, who however did not mince words in commenting on the measures contained in the text approved in Parliament. In detail, the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs contests the definition given by the Executive of "maneuver by the people". According to him, a budget law that establishes spending increases in a context of already high debt would not favor citizens at all, quite the contrary.
If anything, it would be the European rules, which require the reduction of GDP-debt, to be "favorable to the Italian people". Because, Moscovici explained, “a budget that would increase debt would be far harmful for Italians, because the burden on their shoulders would be heavier. The cost of servicing the debt is 65 billion euros a year: 1.000 euros a year for every Italian. And usually those who pay the most are the poorest and the weakest”. "We need a people's budget but it's not the one that raises the debt", concluded Moscovici.
The prime minister responds directly to the EU commissioner remotely, Giuseppe Conte who during a press conference in Algiers, answering questions from journalists, stated: “I want to speak with the EU Commission in the appropriate forums and in those forums I will reaffirm our position. I don't even want to imagine that the EU Commission is conditioned by assessments of a political nature which concern inappropriate perspectives to be discussed in institutional settings”.
The Prime Minister then added: "I expect a European Commissioner to be very cautious in assessments that have a clear impact and a clear political tinge", "Moscovici's statements concern the ongoing political debate but have nothing to see with the institutional action of the EU Commission. If we want to fuel the political debate perhaps by bringing the times ahead of the European elections we can do it, but I don't think that an EU Commissioner should participate in this debate".
The vice president of the EU commission also expressed his opinion on the matter this morning, Valdis Dombrovskis, who said in an interview with Bloomberg: “The EU is engaged in a discussion with Italy and hopes to achieve a constructive result, there is some margin, but it is worth noting that the Italian budget deviates considerably from rules and, therefore, a considerable correction is needed”.
The measures adopted by the government in the maneuver are "counterproductive" for the Italian economy, continued the Vice-President of the Commission. "We are in discussions with the Italian authorities in the hope of reaching a constructive outcome."
"The EU Commission has made its assessment" of the Italian maneuver that "France shares", but "the EU Commission has extended a hand to Italy and I hope that Italy will take this outstretched hand". Thus the French finance minister Bruno Le Maire upon his arrival at the Eurogroup where Italy will be at the center of the discussions. "France is not in a good position to teach anyone lessons", added Le Maire, inviting Rome and Brussels to "dialogue". “Let's leave all the time and a chance for dialogue”.
