Not surprisingly, the economic experts of the Member States to the European Union, meeting within the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council of the EU, on Tuesday 11 June, delivered a positive opinion on the European Commission's report of 5 June on the Italian public debt, under Article 126.3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (see EUROPE 12269/1).
The report concludes that the debt criterion is not respected by Rome and that the opening of an excessive deficit procedure is “warranted”. This favourable opinion from the Member States gives the European Commission a mandate to recommend to the EU Council to open an excessive deficit procedure on the debt-based criterion.
It should be recalled that the European Commission forecasts a rise in the Italian public debt ratio and a deterioration in the structural deficit for both 2019 and 2020. In an interview with Politico on the same day, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, said that Italy “[is running the] risk of being stuck in excessive deficit procedure for years”. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)