Tension is skyrocketing not only in the Italian government, but also between Rome and Brussels. In the aftermath of accusations hurled by the deputy premier grillino Luigi Di Maio – who spoke of illegal changes to the text of the maneuver delivered to the Head of State, only to be denied by the Quirinale, where the text never arrived – the Executive must try to mend the gap between the two majority parties. Di Maio would like to change the rules on the scandalous tax amnesty and calls for a majority summit if not a Council of Ministers, but Salvini is not there and refers to the program contract: tension is at its highest in the Government. But there Italy also has to face the clash with the European Union, despite the deputy premiers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio shrug.
The European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, who met both the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the Minister of Economy, Giovanni Tria, was in fact conciliatory in tone but very harsh in substance: "Never before had we seen a deviation from European rules like that of the Italy". Concepts that are also reiterated in the letter that Moscovici delivered to the Government and with which the European Commission requests clarifications and expresses remarks on the accounting deviation launched by the Italian government with the new budget law.
That of Brussels is a widely expected and announced position, but no less tough for this: the president of the Community Executive himself, Jean Claude Juncker, had anticipated that, in the event of a European go-ahead for the Italian maneuver, "virulent reactions" would arrive from many other countries.
Among these countries is certainly the Netherlands of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who this morning - before the European Council convened in Brussels - met face-to-face with the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, to then tweet: "Good bilateral meeting with Giuseppe Conte during the European Council. I expressed Holland's concerns about the budget plans for 2019. Full support to the EU Commission to apply the common obligations of the Stability Pact". Austria is equally concerned. This fact removes any illusions about the future because, contrary to what Salvini and Di Maio hope, the probable electoral growth of minor countries in the next European elections will not lead the new Commission to soften the line on economic rigor especially towards heavily indebted countries such as Italy , On the contrary.
To the letter delivered by Moscovici Italy will have to respond by Monday 22 October. Based on the answer, the Commission will decide by 31 October whether to consider the Italian budget project in compliance with the stability pact and with the commitments already undertaken by Italy or whether ask for changes. Until now, in the history of the Eurozone, Brussels has never rejected a budget law even before its arrival in Parliament.
The fear is that all this is nothing but the prelude to the opening of an infringement procedure against our country, which could arrive early next year, bringing with it a new wave of speculation on the Italian public debt (also because in the meantime the ECB will have closed the umbrella of quantitative easing).
The soothing signals launched by Minister Tria could be of little use ("We will open a constructive dialogue with the European Union", he said this morning toassembly of Assolombarda), given that Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini reiterated that the Government is going straight: “The tax decree does not change. What we discussed for hours and hours I then found written in the text, with everyone's agreement, we all signed it. Everyone takes their responsibilities." A high-tension clash between the two components of the government, with the initial refusal of Salvini and the Northern League ministers to participate in Saturday's CDM and the subsequent softening which brought the risk of a split back. The Northern League delegation will participate but it is still to be seen what the point of fall will be.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, speaking from the Eurosummit in Brussels, confirmed that there will be no extraordinary CDM between Thursday and Friday, but that the meeting on Saturday morning has been confirmed.
