In a statement released today, the Eurogroup said Italy’s 2019 Draft Budget Plan (DBP) was breaking EU rules and urged Italy to rectify it.
It said “The Eurogroup recalls that in its opinion issued on 23 October 2018 the Commission identified a particularly serious non-compliance with the recommendation addressed to Italy by the Council on 13 July 2018 and requested a revised DBP. Italy submitted a revised DBP on 13 November, on which the Commission issued another opinion on 21 November, confirming the existence of a particularly serious non-compliance with the Council recommendation.”
And, “we support the Commission assessment and recommend Italy to take the necessary measures to be compliant with the SGP. We also support the ongoing dialogue between the Commission and the Italian authorities.”
Also, the Eurogroup noted that five member states’ DBP are “deemed to be at risk of non-compliance with the SGP”, including Belgium, France, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
