Apparently, despite various rumors, Italy hasn’t submitted a revised Draft Budget Plan yet. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was quoted by la Repubblica daily that “if I have the chance to reduce the economic impact of some measures I’m here.” He added, “I’m the one who is entitled to speak with the European Commission … and I never halted discussions. Right now if I can recover some funds, tweak the final figure, change a few little things, it doesn’t mean I’m backtracking.”
European Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger repeated the urge for Italy to comply with EU rules. He said in a German radio interview that “We hope that a draft will come today that corresponds to the criteria for all euro countries”. But he sounded tough and indicated that even bring down deficit target from the current plan’s 2.4% to 2.2% of GDP, that “would be against all the commitments”.
