The crisis between the Italian government and the European Commissions is deepening, as sources from the Italian government claim the Commission did not reject the draft budget. In a letter sent to Italian Minister of Finance and Economy Giovanni Tria, by both European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici and European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis the EC reportedly noted the risk of the deficit increasing.
“At first reading, the Italian Draft Budget constitutes a significant departure from the fiscal path outlined by the EU Council,” the letter said.

“We expected that this budget would not appeal to Brussels. The dialogue phase starts now, but we are not going to make concessions” said the head of the Five Star movement party and co-partner in the coalition, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Austrian newspapers that the European Commission will not interfere in Italy’s budget planning and assess the budget without bias but propose changes if necessary.
“It is up to Italian policy-makers to find rules and measures that will allow Italy to remain within the agreed budgetary targets,” Juncker said in an interview with dailies Der Standard and Kurier and weekly Der Falter, that was published on Saturday.
“We will assess the Italian budget without anger and fondness and propose changes if necessary,” he added.