EC chastises Italy, but says OK to 2020 budget plan

(ANSA) - Brussels, November 20 - The European Commission said Wednesday that it was giving the green light to Italy's budget plan for 2020 even though it risks "non-compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact in 2020".
    It said the same for Belgium, Spain, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. "The implementation of the Plans of these Member States might result in a significant deviation from the adjustment paths towards the respective medium-term budgetary objective," the Commission said. "In the cases of Belgium, Spain, France and Italy, non-compliance with the debt reduction benchmark is also projected".
    European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis expressed concern about the high debt of Italy and the other EU States and called on them to take action. "Member States with very high levels of debt - such as Belgium, France, Italy and Spain - should take advantage of the lower interest expenditure to reduce their debt," Dombrovskis said.
    "It should be their priority. "We expect them not to respect the debt rule.
    "They have not sufficiently used the favourable economic conditions to put their public finances in order. "In 2020 they plan for either no significant adjustment or an expansion. "This is worrying because high debts limit the ability to respond to economic shocks and market pressures".