EU officials continue to criticize Italy’s budget plan today. Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said “Our assessment so far from what is currently emerging is that this is not compatible with the Stability and Growth Pact.” Though, he also noted full and formal assessment could only be done after the budget plan is submitted in mid-October.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire emphasized “all states have to do their best to stick to commitments” referring to Italy’s budget plan. But things “have to go step by step”. After getting the budget plan formally, Le Maire said Eurozone members could could put pressure within “the political framework”. And such rules are more important now as EU was “facing a serious threat as “populist and nationalist movements are on the rise.”
Separately, Italy newspaper La Repubblica reported that European Commission is set to reject Italy’s budget plans in November and open a procedure against the country’s public accounts in February.
