EU reaches deal over Italy budget, puts disciplinary steps on hold

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission reached a deal with Italy over the country’s 2019 budget that avoids an EU disciplinary procedure against Rome, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

“The solution on the table is not ideal. It does not yet deliver a long-term solution to Italy’s economic problems. But it allows us to avoid an excessive deficit procedure at this stage,” Dombrovskis told a news conference in Brussels.

He added the decision could be revised in January if Rome did not fully apply the agreement reached with Brussels.

Under the compromise, Italy has lowered its headline deficit for next year to 2.04 percent of output from 2.4 percent it had planned earlier.

The more important structural deficit, however, which excludes one-off items and business cycle swings, will not change in 2019 from 2018 levels — a compromise Dombrovskis called “borderline”.

Under EU rules, Rome was supposed to reduce the structural deficit by 0.6 percent of GDP, but instead proposed in its original 2019 draft budget an increase of 1.2 percent according to the Commission.

The compromise at zero change was not ideal, Dombrovskis said, but allowed the Commission to drop plans to start disciplinary action that could end up in fines.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.