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ROME (Reuters) – The European Commission has rejected Italy's budget for 2019 and will ask Rome to submit a new document within three weeks, the Italian news agency AGI said on Tuesday. sources from the EU.
We see flags of the European Union and Italy in downtown Rome, Italy, on October 19, 2018. REUTERS / Alessandro Bianchi
The Commission will hold a press conference at 15:30. (13:30 GMT) to officially announce the decision, said AGI.
The Italian government of the League of Right and 5-star anti-establishment movement is facing a dispute with Brussels over tax issues and presented a budget plan this month that brings the deficit to 2.4% of the product gross interior.
This represented a sharp rise from the target of 1.8% this year, ignoring the EU's demands that the deficit gradually decline towards a balanced budget.
Since it has received increased powers in 2013 from Member States' budget plans, the Commission has never asked a country to submit a revised budget.
The AGI report has increased Italian bond yields in all areas.
The European executive warned last week in a letter to Rome that the budget represented an "unprecedented" gap from Italy's previous budget commitments, while Italian ministers exchanged insults with commissioners.
Italy has adopted more moderate tones in recent days, but Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that there was no reason to change the deficit target.
Report by Gavin Jones; edited by John Stonestreet
