The EU said it had concluded that when it comes to Italy
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced Wednesday that disciplinary proceedings against Italy are warranted because it’s breaking fiscal rules over its rising public debt.
The Commission said that in its latest assessment of member states’ compliance with deficit and debt rules, it had concluded that when it comes to Italy «a debt-based EDP is warranted.»
An EDP stands for an «Excessive Deficit Procedure» and is an action launched by the European Commission against any EU member state that exceeds the budgetary deficit ceiling or fails to reduce their debts. If an EDP went ahead, Italy could face a fine of around 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion), according to some reports.
«(The report) concludes that the debt criterion is not complied with and thus a debt-based excessive deficit procedure is warranted,» Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU Commission vice-president for the euro and social dialogue, said at a press conference.
«To be clear, today we are not opening the EDP. First, EU member states have to give their views on… the report then the economic and financial committee has two weeks to form its opinion on our conclusions. But it’s much more than just about the procedure, when we look at the Italian economy we see the damage that recent policy choices are doing.
