Brussels – At the last minute the European Union succeeds. New budget rules are approved by the House of the European Parliament in the final session of the legislature, which sees the passage of the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact allowing the European Commission to breathe a sigh of relief. “Your vote today is important to show credibility,” stresses Valdis Dombrovskis, commissioner for an Economy at the service of the people, in the debate preceding a vote with a foregone conclusion. There is a majority: Populars (EPP), Liberals (RE) and Socialists (S&D) confirm inter-institutional agreement, as expected.
It was all confirmed: a clear debt reduction path in terms of effort (countries like Italy, with a debt/GDP ratio above 90 percent, will have to reduce this surplus by 1 percent each year) and timing (four years, but extendable to seven after negotiation with Brussels and submission of a reform plan), creation of a precautionary spending buffer to respond to possible shocks (those who do not exceed the 3 percent deficit/GDP ceiling will still have to reduce it, to create a 1.5 percent buffer so as not to put pressure on the accounts), national co-financing not counted toward budget imbalances for everything that is priority spending (twin green and digital transition and defense), the possibility of deviation in case of exceptional circumstances.
The Strasbourg vote produced an all-Italian rift. The parties of the governing majority – Fratelli d’Italia, Lega, Forza Italia – abstained when voting on the inter-institutional agreement but voted against the amendment calling for its rejection. PD MEPs also abstained, those of the 5 Star Movement voted against.
The PD chose to abstain knowing that common rules are necessary, but not the ones that came out at the end of the negotiations, said head delegation Brando Benifei, who is convinced that the final text is “excessively detrimental not only compared to Commissioner Gentiloni’s original proposal, which we supported, but also compared to the position of the European Parliament, especially if we look at Italy’s interests.” If anything, he attacks, “The abstention of all the political forces of the center-right majority in the European Parliament is resounding, and officially refutes the work of the Meloni government and Minister Giorgetti, who should draw the appropriate conclusions.”
Mario Furore of the 5 Star Movement Treasury calls for the resignation of the Treasury Minister: “The majority parties are abstaining in the European Parliament on the Stability Pact, de facto defeating Minister Giorgetti who had negotiated it in Europe“. Within the Italian ruling coalition there is no sense of crisis. On the contrary, the today vote is nothing but a first round. As explained by Fulvio Martusciello, head of Forza Italia delegation, “The new pact is an incentive to austerity and an obstacle for growth, and we will change it with a new majority in the next legislature“.
The problem for Italy, however, is not this, or at least not only this: the EU executive now demands national debt reduction strategies. “We expect member states to submit the medium-term fiscal adjustment strategies by September 20,” Dombrovskis underlined.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
