Good news on the European front for Italy and France. Renzi's 36 billion maneuver, according to what was reported today by Repubblica, would like Brussels, which between tomorrow and Wednesday should only send a letter of clarification: a formality, not a rejection. In short, the European Commission should limit itself to opening the negotiations which, in the hopes of the Italian government, should close without too much damage. The letter, in the informal channels between Italy and the Belgian capital, is announced as not too hostile, not full of "remarks".
And if Rome smiles, Paris breathes a sigh of relief too. Also according to the newspaper La Repubblica Angela Merkel has a last minute plan to try to save France, offer it more time to reduce the deficit, avoid fines and punishments by the European Commission against the second largest economy in the eurozone for its accounts in the deep red, and spare Europe from a lethal crisis of the Franco-German entente. You wrote Der Spiegel yesterday, on the eve of the difficult, awaited consultation between the finance and economy ministers of the two governments, namely Wolfgang Schaeuble, Sigmar Gabriel, Michel Sapin and Emmanuel Macron. The Germany of the Grosse Koalition, senior government sources assure the Hamburg weekly, behind the dogmatic facade of rigor, wants to save the French, albeit under harsh conditions.
