In the budget dispute between the EU and Rome, the deadline for a reply from the Italian Government is running out today. The European Commission had rejected the draft budget from Rome in a historic one-off step three weeks ago and called for a revision. The populist five-star coalition and right-wing coalition must now resubmit its debt plans to Brussels.
However, it is not expected that Italy will give in. The government in Rome had made it clear in advance that it would not abandon the cornerstones of its draft budget. Italy is targeting new debt of 2.4 percent of economic output in the coming year.
But as the third largest economy in the Eurozone is already heavily indebted, the EU is against it. She sees the draft of the populist government as an unprecedented violation of EU stability rules. Among other things, Rome wants to spend the money on campaign pledges such as basic security and pension reform.
