The Italian and Czech governments have formally asked the European Commission for financial cooperation, calling for greater flexibility in the application of EU fiscal rules to offset the impact of inflationary pressures stemming from higher energy commodity prices and protect citizens’ purchasing power.
The talks with EU institutions are part of the process of drawing up the public finance planning document (DPFP), which must be approved and submitted to parliament by Oct. 2 and will provide the basis for budgetary measures. The room for manoeuvre remains very limited.
In a letter to EU leaders, the two governments’ prime ministers said extraordinary measures were needed to prevent deindustrialisation within the single market. They therefore called on the European Commission to exclude strategic investments aimed at supporting the energy transition from the calculation of the structural deficit.
The two governments said the measure was essential to enable support for domestic small and medium-sized enterprises without undermining the stability of public finances in the coming economic policy planning cycles.
