(Finance) – The new text of the rotating Spanish presidency of the EU on reform of the Stability Pact it is being studied by the EU states and, after the compromise proposed by Madrid on Friday night, we are still waiting to understand the agenda for the next few days. That is, whether an extraordinary Ecofin Council will be needed, and whether in person or only via video conference, or whether meetings between ambassadors will be enough, also considering that some discussion on the topic by EU leaders on the sidelines of Thursday’s European Council is a given 14th and Friday 15th. The evaluations of the new Spanish compromise are made by the 27 both from a legislative point of view and on the possible economic impact of the new framework. And already today the new text has arrived for examination by the economic advisors of the various EU diplomatic representations in Brussels.
The knot on the Pact, after the long negotiations in the night between Thursday and Friday, remains the point added by the Spanish presidency, after the mediation triangulated by Paris, Berlin and Rome. It’s about the corrective part of the Pact, that for countries that violate tax rules. The idea would be to predict that inannual structural adjustment of 0.5% of GDP for countries in excessive deficit proceedings for a transitional period (from 2025 to 2026) the European Commission can take into account the interest on the debt in the calculation of the fiscal effort requested from the States. There are seven countries in particular that don’t like this point at all, with the request that the decline in the deficit be as rapid as possible. These are Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Holland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, but they too are apparently evaluating the new compromise according to what is filtered by diplomatic sources.
“The issue for us is investments. After that the negotiation is open, we are pursuing a pragmatic approach and I believe that we cannot say yes to a stability pact that no state could respect because it would not be serious on our part I see glimmers of hope for a serious solution that takes into account the context in which we operate.” This is what she said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in his speech in connection with the presentation of PhotoAnsa 2023 which took place today at the Maxxi museum in Rome. “We – clarified Meloni, commenting on the negotiations on the stability pact – we are pursuing a very pragmatic approach and constructive positions. The only thing we cannot be asked to do is to say yes to a stability pact which I do not say this government, but no Italian government could respect in this case, because it would not be serious on our part. I see glimmers. We are working on a serious solution that takes into account the context in which we operate.”
In the EU, on the stability pact, – continued the Prime Minister – Italy is taking a position that is not an attempt to modify the pact to spend freely, we have demonstrated the seriousness with which we approach budget matters. The question we are asking is in the interests of Italy and the EU. The reform of the Stability Pact is not specifically one of the items on the agenda of the European Council. There was an Ecofin which postponed the final decision to a further Ecofin meeting. But it is the issue that engages us the most, it is a very close negotiation and I think that the Italian position is clear, it is understood and respected. I don’t know how far we will go in the attempt to find a synthesis between distant positions that are distant from the start.”