EU wants to avoid 'worst scenario' amid Rome letter row

(ANSA) - Brussels, October 24 - European Economic Affairs Commissioner Jyrki Katainen said Friday that the EU wanted to avoid the worst-case scenario, amid a big row over the Italian government's publication of a letter requesting clarifications about its 2015 budget bill. "The letter to Italy is there and everyone knows what our concerns are," Katainen said at an EU summit in Brussels. "We haven't decided about Italy. We are negotiating.
    Everyone wants to avoid the worst possible scenario".
    The letter from Katainen, marked confidential, said Premier Matteo Renzi's government's risked a "significant deviation" from its medium-term budget adjustment goals with the 2015 budget, which features 18 billion euros in tax cuts as part of an effort to revive the recession-battered Italian economy.
    Outgoing European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on Thursday berated the release of the letter in Italy, saying it would have been better for consultations to take place in secret.
    There is speculation the outgoing Commission may ask Italy to make corrections to the budget as one of its last acts.
    "The time of secret letters is over," Renzi hit back after arriving in Brussels for the summit on Thursday. "This is the time of clarity and transparency. I'm astonished Barroso was surprised we published the letter".
    The Italian government is set to reply to the Commission's letter on Friday.