Stability Pact, MEE, Superbonus and public debt. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti gives a 360-degree response to parliamentarians gathered at the Chamber’s Budget Committee to examine the more than 1000 amendments presented by the opposition to the Budget. According to Giorgetti, it is necessary to “courageously leave the phase in which we got used to this LSD that we took for 4 years, and slowly eliminate, step by step, all these measures that we cannot allow”. Among these is certainly the Superbonus, even if Forza Italia asks for an extension for a few more months. The data from the extraordinary measure launched by the Conte II government «in recent months were even worse in terms of expenditure on public finances compared to those predicted by Nadef.
Then Parliament will decide, with regard to the Minister of Economy and Finance, in my heart I know what is the limit that I can do and that I will propose to the Council of Ministers, beyond which we cannot go because this is the reality of the numbers” For Giorgetti this is a measure “taken at an exceptional moment” that “unfortunately has radioactive effects like a nuclear power plant with consequences that we cannot manage”. We must get out of this hallucination that we have experienced in these years when everything seemed due to us”.
As for the Stability and Growth Pact, for the minister it is a “commitment”, a result that in any case does not allow “celebration”. He then forcefully reiterated that he “took full responsibility for accepting a deal rather than throwing a random veto to return to rules that were far worse than those our country will face in the coming months.”
In fact, if there had been no agreement on the new Stability Pact, the old Stability and Growth Pact written with the budgetary pact would have come into force from 1 January, while with the new one “we took a step forward”. In any case, “the new rules will not affect 2024, simply because they can only start from 2025 and this year a mixed mechanism of old rules with European Commission guidelines will operate”. The problem, Giorgetti stressed, “is not austerity, but discipline, that is, the ability of those involved in politics to make decisions even if they are unpopular”.
Among other things, the owner of via XX Settembre highlighted how the government’s forecasts with the programmatic documents “are consistent with what is foreseen in the new Stability Pact”. Regarding the non-ratification of the European Stability Mechanism, the minister explained that “I never said, neither in Parliament, nor in the European forum, nor in any other forum, that Italy would ratify the ESM. I read absurd and completely false things.”
What he did, instead, “was simply to remember that the Italian Parliament, which has sovereign jurisdiction over the matter, has from time to time postponed the vote in response to a request from the opposition.” After the fourth postponement, it was Giorgetti himself who asked Parliament to express its opinion, which it then did by voting “exactly as I had predicted at European level”. However, “MEE is neither the cause nor the solution to our problem because our problem is called debt”, highlighting the need to keep it “under control or this country cannot deal with it”. Afterwards, the minister denied those who claimed that the non-ratification of the MEE was not “a failure to react to the Stability Pact, but the recognition that with regard to the banking union, the capital market, deposit insurance, unfortunately , progress at European level has not been made, I say unfortunately because everything is being maintained” and in any case, he guaranteed, “we have one of the most solid banking systems in Europe”. During the meeting the Bridge over the Strait was also discussed, according to Giorgetti “it is not scandalous that the regions involved contribute to the work”.
Last chapter: the financial maneuver that will reach the Chamber today. The owner of Via XX Settembre highlighted how the original text presented by the government, even after the changes made in the Senate, «substantially kept the quadrature and structure of our proposal intact, in this sense the government evaluates it favorably”. He then claimed responsibility for the effort made by the government “in the extra deficit for low-income workers”. The objective is “not to waste important resources aimed at one-way bonuses”. The time for crazy spending “let’s respect the rules” is over.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
