>Italy is increasingly becoming EU troublemaker-in-chief by pushing for a national budget that would substantially raise the deficit and by playing hardball on migration — and the feeling in Brussels is that the Italians have underestimated how tough the EU can be.
>The reason, according to EU officials, is that being flexible has been the right thing to do: because Italy is a founding member of the EU; because its €2.2 trillion public debt makes it a ticking time bomb in the single currency; because its sluggish economy needs help; and because, without an effective solidarity mechanism in place, Italy was all alone in dealing with migrants.
>Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday at an event in Germany. “One crisis was enough and we have to prevent Italy from being able to get special treatment here that, if everybody were to get it, would mean the end of the euro. In this respect, Italy has to be treated strictly and fairly.”
>The EU fiscal hawks are also getting more organized and united. On Monday night the finance ministers of the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Baltic countries — some of the most vocal critics of big-spending Southern European nations — met for dinner and discussed the Italian situation, according to two EU officials.
>The EU fiscal hawks
>The EU fiscal hawks
>The EU fiscal hawks
>The EU fiscal hawks
>“Salvini supporters need to sell their products on the other side of the Alps,” stressed one EU diplomat.
read trade war
What is the eu good for anyway?
