Budget: Brussels demands ‘clarification’ from Italy over spending plan

The European Commission demanded urgent clarifications from Italy over its budget plans for next year, worried it will veer from spending cut commitments made to Brussels.

Published: 22 October 2019 11:48 CEST

Budget: Brussels demands 'clarification' from Italy over spending plan

Valdis Dombrovskis, EU commission vice president. Photo: AFP

A letter from the EU's executive arm on Tuesday could be the first step before the commission rejects a budget outright and demands a new draft.

France, Spain, Belgium and Finland were also contacted over budget concerns.

“Italy's plan does not comply with the debt reduction benchmark in 2020,” said a letter signed by EU economics affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici and commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis.

Rome sent its budget on Wednesday hoping to get Brussels to agree to a deficit of 2.2 percent of GDP, which the EU said risked delaying the reduction of Rome's massive debt mountain.

The spending plans were the product of fraught negotiations between the new coalition in Italy, an unlikely partnership between the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

“We will provide all clarifications to the EU, we are not concerned,” said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

“It is a necessary dialogue with Brussels from which we will not escape”.

A year ago, the The European Commission for the first time ever rejected a national budget when it turned down Italy's controversial 2019 spending plans, submitted by the previous government, a populist far-right coalition.

After months of loudly refusing to make changes, Italy later accepted the tighter spending and debt reduction demanded by Brussels and revised its spending plan.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.