European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said the ball is in “Italy’s court” regarding the country’s excessive budget that could lead to disciplinary procedure. He added, “We need to see a credible path for 2019 as well as 2020. We stand ready to take into account any new elements that Italy may put forward, but let’s not waste time.”
On the other hand, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvin said “we’re not asking Europe for money … what we ask for is to be able to cut taxes for Italians… We definitely won’t introduce new taxes, we won’t increase the value added tax, we won’t introduce a wealth tax, we won’t touch Italians’ bank savings… We want to free up resources”.
