Dombrovskis said at a press conference after the Eurogroup in Luxembourg on 8 October that the Commission cannot keep introducing new fiscal flexibility, and that the rules already account for inflation pressures.
Italy submitted its request on 11 September, and the Commission's assessment found activation does not put medium-term sustainability at risk. The Council has one month to give final approval.
Mitsotakis urged the Commission to exempt temporary national support measures for households and businesses from the EU's maximum net expenditure limit.
Giorgetti said the Italian proposal received numerous endorsements, while ANSA reports the Netherlands and Belgium issued a clear warning against new flexibility.
On Thursday, 8 October, after the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis rejected further fiscal leeway linked to inflation. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had asked the Commission to factor higher-than-expected inflation into permitted budget deficits and into the assessment of spending deviations. Rome argued that member states should be allowed to use extra tax revenue generated by inflation to help counter soaring energy costs. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the Commission to exempt temporary national support measures for households and businesses from the EU's maximum net expenditure limit.
“We cannot come with new fiscal flexibilities all the time,”
Dombrovskis said inflation pressures are already considered in the overall assessment of compliance with fiscal rules. He warned that new flexibility could cast doubt on the collective resolve to uphold the rules-based fiscal framework, which he described as a vital asset. He noted that the Commission had already granted leeway within agreed consolidation paths for higher defence spending and for measures to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The Commission also assessed Italy's request to activate the national escape clause, which Rome submitted on 11 September. According to Fanpage, a Commission spokesperson, Balazs Ujvari, said the assessment concluded that activating the clause does not put fiscal sustainability at risk in the medium term for Italy. Fanpage reports that the government requested 14 billion for energy and 14 billion for defence, nearly 29 billion over the coming two years, and that Italy is the 19th country to make such a request. The clause would allow Italy to use budget margins between 2027 and 2028, and the government has asked parliament for a budget deviation that would raise the deficit by nearly 29 billion in the next biennium.
Fanpage notes that strong doubts remain about Italy's request for more flexibility to counter inflation, even as the energy and defence request moved forward. The file now goes to the Council, which has one month to give final approval, after which Italy can formally activate the clause.
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Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italy's economy minister, said after the Eurogroup that there had been a broad debate on the negative effects of inflation on public accounts, in which the Italian proposal received numerous endorsements, beyond the traditional reservations of the frugal countries. ANSA reports that the Netherlands and Belgium in particular sent a clear warning against new flexibility. Giorgetti said Rome had asked the Commission for further reflection so that the relevant factors for compliance with the current Stability Pact are correctly interpreted.
“We are confident that the good technical reasons can find the correct interpretation of the rules.”
Dombrovskis said he had held talks on the same day with Greek Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and with Giorgetti. He added that the Commission would examine the requests from Italy and Greece more closely before reaching a decision.
The Commission has not yet decided on the broader inflation-related requests from Rome and Athens. The Council now has one month to give final approval to Italy's energy and defence clause. Dombrovskis also urged fiscal prudence, pointing to turbulence in global bond markets and rising spreads in the eurozone, and told reporters that Member States should use the available flexibility under the national escape clause with caution.
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Valdis Dombrovskis said the Commission will examine Italian and Greek requests more closely, while Italy's energy and defence escape clause cleared its first Commission assessment.
AI text based on reports by Fanpage, Reuters and ANSA.it. Changed . How it is made