Italy may face an
infringement procedure if the government does not change its
draft budget plan for 2019, European Commission Vice-President
for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis said Tuesday.
The Commission has rejected the plan, which sees Italy
running a deficit of 2.4% of GDP next year, saying it would
breach the Stability and Growth Pact.
It has told Rome to change the package by November 13.
The Commission "is considering" a procedure against Italy
over its big public debt and, for this reason, it is preparing a
report on the debt, Dombrovskis said.
"We did this in previous years too, concluding that Italy was
effectively in line with the requirements of the Pact and so we
did not open the procedure.
"But in this case, if the budget plan document does not
change tangibly, we will have to reconsider the conclusions".
The government has said it does not intend to revise the
budget, arguing an expansive package is needed to boost growth
and bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio.
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