European sources told ANSA
Monday there is concern at the highest EU levels over a lack of
communication channels with Rome.
Communication issues can turn into political problems, the
sources said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was and
is Premier Matteo Renzi's friend and Italy's best ally, the
sources said. Juncker and Renzi traded barbs Friday over
economic flexibility clauses and migrants.
Juncker had lost his patience, the sources said. They went
on to qualify Italy's representative in Brussels, Stefano
Sannino, as the best ambassador in the Belgian capital.
What's missing, however, is continuous dialogue with
experts and envoys on specific issues, such as the ones other
European governments send in between major summits. This working
method helps smooth rough edges long before leaders engage, the
sources said.
For example, France sent specialists to "negotiate for
weeks" on its behalf over its national budget last fall.
This communication gap has generated misunderstandings over
Italy's four rescued banks, its troubled ILVA steelmaker, and
the use of flexibility clauses among other issues, according to
the sources.
They went on to list two areas of EU concern over Italy:
its protests after losing its only component on Juncker's
cabinet, legal expert Carlo Zadra, earlier this month - Zadra
quit and was replaced by a Briton after clashing with
Cabinet Chief Martin Selmayr - and its blocking of a
three-billion-euro fund for Syrian refugees in Turkey in spite
of the fact that the Commission has "put it in writing" that the
aid won't be included in deficit calculations.
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