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EU-EUROZONE-ECONOMY-ITALY LEAD
Key EU ministers ignore budget rule revamp for Italy
HELSINKI, Sept 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The EU’s most powerful members on
Saturday ignored a call by Italy to reform the European Union’s budget rules,
handing an early setback to the pro-European government in Rome.
EU finance ministers meeting in Helsinki discussed a possible update to the
EU’s rules on public spending, but key countries Germany, France and the
Netherlands were represented by subordinates.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called this week for the EU’s
Stability and Growth Pact, which limits budget deficits to three percent of
gross domestic product in member states, to be “improved” and simplified.
The pact was the main bone of contention between the European Commission
and the previous populist government in heavily indebted Italy, which must
submit a balanced budget to Brussels in the coming weeks.
Reforming the rules, which also include a 60 percent of GDP cap on debt,
sharply splits Italy from the EU’s richer members that are loathe to ease the
pressure on Rome’s chronic overspending.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said any attempt to modify the rules
would be too contentious and the EU must prioritise other challenges,
especially investment.
“I am very cautious on ideas to change the rules,” Le Maire said in
Helsinki on Friday before jetting off early from the two-day meeting.
A reform would be “very difficult, very long, and very uncertain,” added Le
Maire, who was seen as a potential ally for Rome in the debate.
Officials said the long-planned discussion on Saturday very generally
explored ways to simplify the rules and new ways to measure national
spending.
Northern countries, led by the Netherlands, accuse the European Commission
of loosely interpreting data in order to give deficit-running countries
leeway. The current system has helped absolve countries such as Spain,
Belgium and France, critics allege.
EU commission vice president Valdis Dombrovkis said an overhaul would only
take place if an agreement seemed possible.
“We should avoid the scenario where we just open legislation without
knowing how we’ll close it and then have a long and divisive debate on this
and not achieve results,” he said.
Italy’s new finance minister Roberto Gualtieri downplayed the significance
of his absent counterparts, which also included Spain’s finance minister.
“We are in a preliminary phase of reflection… It was an informal
discussion,” Gualtieri told reporters.
BSS/AFP/SR/1835 HRS