The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, takes the field to defend Italy in the tug of war between the Government and Brussels on public finances: “I see no reason to open the infringement procedure against Italy", said the head of state, on a visit to Vienna, answering questions from journalists.
Mattarella then explained that "the budget deficit in Italy went from 2,4 to 2,1 between 2017 and 2018, the primary surplus went from 1,4 to 1,6: and these are positive trends for public finances”. Furthermore "there is a basic condition of the Italian economy of great solidityIt is no coincidence that Italy is the third largest economy in the EU and is the second largest manufacturing in Europe”.
“I think the government is presenting this to the EU Commission to demonstrate that the accounts will be in order, the indications are reassuring and there is no reason to open a new infringement”, added the President of the Republic on the day in which the Council of Ministers is expected to approve the budget adjustment, a fundamental step in trying to ease tensions with Brussels.
The Premier, Giuseppe Conte, is also optimistic: “I always trust that I can avoid” infringement proceedings, "of course, the numbers are still the same: positive, they haven't changed", said the Prime Minister "Don't let me comment on individual assessments of individual commissioners: now the path is very clear, we speak with documents, today we decide on the adjustment and reporting. We will send those documents”. “Always confident of avoiding” infringement proceedings, he adds.
Conte's reference is to an interview given to the Rhenische Post, by the European Commissioner for the Budget, Guenther Oettinger: If the Italian government fails to implement significant austerity measures, the European Commission could launch infringement proceedings this week, the commissioner said. “We need to see if, in these days, the Italians will satisfy the Commission's requests regarding both revenue and expenditure of the draft budget for 2020. If they don't, we will have no leeway to avoid the infringement procedureOettinger concluded.
It should be emphasized that today was the day of postponements: after yet another failure on the appointments, the EU summit was adjourned to tomorrow. Because of this, the meeting of European commissioners in Strasbourg on the infringement procedure against our country was also postponed.
