The Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn, in a speech to the EU Parliament, outlined the picture of the Italian situation, harshly attacking Silvio Berlusconi and his economic policies: “Italy had made commitments to consolidate the budget in the summer of 2011 to facilitate ECB intervention in the secondary market to buy government bonds: when the Berlusconi government decided to no longer respect the commitments undertaken the cost of financing for the state has increased”.
Along with the lunge on the former prime minister, accused of not keeping his commitments, thus causing the crisis to worsen, yet another support of the European institutions for the work of Mario Monti: “With the formation of the Monti government, the situation has stabilised. This is a clear example of a trust factor”.
For Rehn, the main objective of the various countries must be "maintaining the pace of economic reforms" and the "continuation of fiscal consolidation", which represent the only serious possibility for growth. The Commissioner for Economic Affairs then closed by signaling the progress made by the European Union and by states in crisis, such as Italy, Spain and Greece. “This year – he stated – will be an essential test for the credibility of the Eurozone”.
