The government will proceed as early as next week to take concrete measures and to allocate the costs necessary to meet the emergency in the earthquake, and this regardless of how it will respond to the request of the european Commission, a correction of the budget to reduce the structural deficit. And’ as has explained the minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan, today in Brussels at the end of the Ecofin council.
Brussels has sent the Italian government a letter in which he asks the correction of the structural deficit, calculated net of the cycle and of one-time items, of about 3.4 billion euros, considering that the this year’s budget deviates from the path of reduction of the debt/gdp ratio. On the difference, equal to 0.2% of gdp, among the european commitment and the actual public deficit in 2017, “the Commission awaits a response to the first of February, and this response will arrive,” he assured the minister of the Economy.
Italy has asked Brussels to increase the deficit in 2017 up to 2.3% of gdp, including 0.4 points to pay for the expenses related to reconstruction after the earthquake and the emergency immigration. “Surely,” the expenses necessary for emergency earthquake and reconstruction “will be considered and there will be an increase in spending,” continued the owner of the Treasure which he expects “concrete measures” by the government as early as next week. And this, he stated, “regardless of how you will respond to the request of the Commission to make an adjustment”.
However, the letter of the chairman of the Board, Paolo Gentiloni, the president of the Eu Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, “remembers the tragedy and the continuity alas, the tragedy, and then the fact that Italy will spend what it takes”. The letter, explained Padoan, serves “to emphasize this point, that seems to me to be said with a lot of clarity.” The spokesman of the Eu Commission have confirmed to have received the letter from the premier and now vice-president of the european Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, at the closing press conference of the meeting Ecofin, recalled that “for several months there are with the Italy discussion, of course, we realize that there are certain obstacles on the speed of decisions, but we expect clear commitments, we expect that the measures are laid down”.
The vice-president of the Eu Commission, he added, “the Italian public debt is very high and in recent years has not decreased and it is for this reason that we are evaluating the compliance of the rules and we are preparing a report on the public debt”. That’s why we sent a letter to the government asking it to ensure “respect in general” with the Eu rules in 2017, and in this case of the rule of debt reduction, pointing to “the budget measures will require additional at least 0.2% of the gdp”. Yesterday, the person in charge of economic affairs, Moscovici, has said it is confident that Italy will be found a common solution.
” of Course, if the european Commission were to block the budget in 2017 and open an infringement procedure against Italy for excessive deficit, the consequences would be heavy. “An infringement procedure would be a big problem for the uk in terms of reputation, that in this recent period has strengthened and built; then an infringement procedure would be a U-turn compared to what we have done up to now”, explained Padoan, making it clear that the opening of the proceedings does not agree to Italy: “this seems to Me to be clear”.
Padon has, however, tried to minimize the controversy antieuropee that are taking place in Italy, and also in the Pd, against the demands of the Eu Commission, seen in the context of the emergency for the earthquake: “The accents antieuropei we have always been in the Italian debate, are not new,” he said, announcing that there are no great novelty in the discussion between the european States on how to set up the negotiation for the Brexit, even if, in formal meetings and informal Eurogroup yesterday and at the Ecofin of today has spoken to “a lot” of the after Brexit and the new american administration with the arrival of Trump, because “the terrain of the game has changed and Europe needs to take this into account”.
“The new context is difficult to decipher because from the Usa come the expansionist stimuli but also very concerned about the return to protectionism, which if you take the foot is damage because we know that trade integration is a powerful factor of growth of which we are the beneficiaries”, the minister concluded, convinced that it can “continue as if nothing had happened. This year is politically complicated for many Countries.”
No comments:
Post a Comment