After the contrary opinion in the Budget Committee, the Chamber also has the authorization to ratify the European Stability Mechanism was rejectedà, de facto rejecting the ESM treaty.
The votes in favor were 72, 184 against, 44 abstentions, rejecting the first article of the text. In the Chamber of Deputies, the deputies of the Democratic Party, Iv and Action voted in favor of the ratification of the ESM. Fdi, Lega and M5S voted against. The deputies of FI, Avs and Noi Moderati abstained. The majority was therefore split.
Majority previously divided also in the Budget Committee. Lega and FdI said yes to the contrary opinion to the ratification of the ESM, therefore voting against the stability mechanism, FI abstained. The opinion had been partly reformulated compared to the one initially presented by the FdI rapporteur but remained contrary. The members of the M5s were absent from the commission.
Thus any prospect of ratification of the European Stability Mechanism by Italy will stumble. "THEParliament rejects the ESM: Italian pensioners and workers will not risk paying for the bailout of foreign banks. And never mind if they get angry on the left. A League battle fought for years and finally won. Carry on like this, with your head held high and without fear", writes the leader of the League Matteo Salvini on Instagram, commenting on the vote in the Montecitorio Chamber.
The opinion of the majority
In a statement approved by the majority, the Budget Commission explained its No to the ESM: "The V Commission, considering that the bill (for ratification of the ESM, ed.) is lacks suitable mechanisms to guarantee the involvement of parliament in the procedure for the request for activation of the European Stability Mechanism, thereby excluding the Chambers from procedures of significant importance in terms of economic and financial policy choices and that this exclusion could jeopardize the possibility for parliament to monitor further payments of the subscribed capital , expresses a contrary opinion."
Simply put, the refusal to ratify the European Stability Mechanism would be due to the fact that the Chambers would not have an important enough role in the governance choices of the European body.
The consequences of the No to the ESM
Italy is the only country that has not yet ratified the ESM, blocking the reform from coming into force. There deadline that the member countries had agreed is December 31st. At this point, after the failure of the Chamber to approve it, no EU country will have the opportunity to use it if necessary.
