Tension in Belgium between Rome and Berlin. In Ypres, where the two-day meeting of the European Council which will have to elect the new president of the Commission and establish the action priorities for the next five years is underway, the Italian premier Matteo Renzi had a heated discussion with the German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The debate was heated around the possibility of including or not the co-financing of EU funds and the payment of the Public Administration in the calculation of the deficit. Italy does not intend to ask to exceed the constraints, but wants Europe to grant greater flexibility in exchange for reforms. This, according to Renzi, should be one of the guidelines for the next term of the EU presidency.
"Dear Angela, we respect and will respect the Pact: we will not do like Germany in 2003", said the Prime Minister with clear polemical intent. After the dinner between the 28 European leaders, the waters between Prime Minister Renzi and Merkel would have calmed down, and it seems that, at the end of a one-on-one meeting, the two greeted each other with "conciliatory tones", according to reports from European sources.
As for the appointments, the Premier intends to give the go-ahead for the assignment of the presidency of the Commission to the popular Jean Claude Juncker only in exchange for a counterpart on the chapter of flexibility. Meanwhile, the Italian Federica Mogherini is running for the post of High Representative of European Foreign Policy. Others also argue that the match for the European Council is still open and relaunch the name of Enrico Letta.
