Germany’s intransigent position: the Stability Pact at risk. And crisis for everyone
Europe proves once again that it is divided. The reform of the Stability Pact is literally hanging by a thread. According to Giorgia Meloni, on this point Brussels’ “steps forward” are “not sufficient”, therefore, a “final rush” is needed because if on the one hand it is “crazy” to accept new rules that are not “sustainable”, the return to the old parameters it would be “deadly” for the economy.
“The hypotheses that Italy is putting forward are more than sensible for many countries. It would be crazy for us to say that we are happy with a solution that is not sustainable,” says Meloni. In a framework of “variable alliances” between the 27, the Prime Minister is aiming for an agreement that does not penalize Italy. A firm no to the return of the old parameters because “if we can think of strengthening our competitiveness without adapting the rules of our governance to the strategies we give ourselves, we risk appearing short-sighted”, observes the Prime Minister. According to La Stampa, the prime minister is calling for a veto on the Commission’s reform proposal. “I prefer to be in the position of not respecting an agreement that I didn’t vote for.”
The tension is also motivated by Germany’s slowdown on a flexible agreement. So much so that Corriere della Sera states: “A euro crisis and the collapse of two regulatory architectures do not seem to have taught the governments of the area much. With each passing day, the construction of the new Stability Pact increasingly resurrects the less noble aspects of its precursors”.
The Courier continues: “The current political needs of a single politician risk costing twenty countries dearly for many years. None of this simplifies Italy’s position, which is destined to remain under special observation, whatever the European rules”. According to the Courier, “part of the responsibility will lie in Berlin”, after yesterday the Minister of Economy Christian Lindner and the his French colleague Bruno Le Maire, contrary to the hopes of a week ago, have not yet managed to reach an agreement on the numbers of the budget constraints.
“Lindner himself became one of the obstacles. The FDP, the liberal party of which he is leader, is running at 5% in the polls: it has more than halved the votes since the elections of two years ago, risks leaving the Bundestag if the vote were held today and last October 8 suffered two harsh electoral defeats in Hesse and Bavaria. Since then Lindner has raised his price in Europe, to show himself inflexible with the voters he is losing to the centre-right and the right. Thus, like the Finance Minister in Berlin, he now asks that the new European rules go beyond the constraint of a minimum debt reduction every year, whatever the conditions of the economy: he also wants to indicate a “safeguard” that pushes the deficit of all European governments is well below 3% of GDP”, explains Corriere della Sera.
Tension also on beach concessions
On beach concessions – another hot dossier for Italy – Meloni observes that it is necessary to “start a new negotiation with the European Commission” starting from the premise that “we inherit a situation that has been dragging on for a few years”. Before returning to Palazzo Chigi, the Prime Minister summarizes the trip to Croatia. “The balance sheet is excellent. The state of relations between Italy and Croatia is excellent despite the absence of an Italian prime minister” for over 20 years. “There are many areas to be strengthened” and at the same time between the two countries “there is a convergence for those who look at the world from the same angle. I think – he concludes – of the role in the Adriatic Sea, therefore the Mediterranean, I think of the theme linked to energy”.
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