{"id":455541,"date":"2026-06-03T13:06:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/03\/italia-lue-non-chiude-la-procedura-per-deficit-eccessivo-e-solo-congelata\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:28:22","slug":"italy-eu-does-not-close-the-excessive-deficit-procedure-only-suspends-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/03\/italy-eu-does-not-close-the-excessive-deficit-procedure-only-suspends-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy, the EU suspended the excessive deficit procedure rather than close it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – The excessive deficit procedure for Italy remains open<\/strong>. The European Commission takes note of the measures taken and acknowledges the relevant merits, but the case is not closed. This is probably the main surprise of the European Semester package, the EU\u2019s economic policy cycle and the coordination of Member States\u2019 measures in this area with the relevant decisions. Following the economic forecasts that do not favour Giorgia Meloni’s<\/a>\u00a0Italy,\u00a0<\/a>the government faces another cold shower, perhaps an even harsher one, given that within the majority many\u00a0thought that bringing the deficit-to-GDP ratio back within the 3 per cent threshold would automatically mean a return to normal conditions. Which is not the case.<\/p>\n

“The Commission is today recommending that the Council repeal the excessive deficit procedure<\/a> for Malta”, reads the accompanying note to the documents produced in Brussels.<\/span><\/span> “For Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy<\/strong>, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia,the Commission considered that effective action has been taken towards correcting the excessive deficit.<\/strong> Therefore, no further steps need to be taken under the EDP at this stage.” More precisely: “The excessive deficit procedure for Italy is suspended.<\/strong>” Not closed. A clarification that sounds like\u00a0a warning: the government will have to be careful how it proceeds, as it may find itself under scrutiny once again and subject to compulsory deficit correction.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All the government has managed to achieve is a tentative opening on energy policy. Meloni had personally campaigned to allow public support measures<\/a>, and the Commission has granted an extension to the national suspension clause of the internal stability pact specifically to address\u00a0rising energy prices.\u00a0Specifically, the flexibility provides that, for additional defence expenditure under the national safeguard clause, there is a specific annual ceiling for the period 2026\u20132028 (0.3 per cent of GDP) and a cumulative ceiling (0.6 per cent of GDP) for the same period, specifically allocated to energy resilience measures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soaring energy costs: Rome and Brussels locked in a tug-of-war over flexibility. Giorgetti: “It will take months”<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n