The vice-president of the EU Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis

  • Mes, Zingaretti: "No more prevaricating, we can have resources never seen before"
  • Conte: "There is great uncertainty, creating premises to allow recovery in terms of productivity"
  • Bank of Italy, Visco: "No risks in using Mes but it is not a godsend"
  • EU, Recovery fund: extraordinary European summit on 17-18 July in Brussels

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04 July 2020 "The Mes is available for everyone in the euro area, but it is up to governments to decide. In any case, the point that Italy raised with great force on the Mes concerned conditionality. And this program has been designed so that it does not there is; the only requirement is that the money be spent on direct and indirect health spending. " The vice-president of the EU Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, interviewed by Corriere della Sera, notes that "in the case of Italy more than 35 billion are now available, with significant savings on interest: hundreds of millions of euros of savings every year for a decade".   

European budget rules will come back into force once the recession is over. "The Stability Pact is not suspended. We have only activated the 'General Escape Clause', the general escape clause, which certainly has important consequences and in fact we are not indicating governments with debt and deficit targets. But this clause - explains Dombrovskis - it also has clear expiry conditions and applies in the event of a severe contraction of the economy. When we are no longer in a phase of severe economic downturn, we said that we would deactivate it. We cannot say when, given the uncertainty. We will return to the topic in the autumn. "   

With regard to the revision of the Covenant rules, "there is a tendency to shift attention to simpler rules: public spending criteria and debt anchoring", namely "the idea that the spending criteria are adjusted according to the public debt-to-GDP ratio of the various countries, "says Dombrovskis. "We are also looking at how to improve counter-cyclical policies, so that states build up budget margins and lower deficits in the positive phases. We see it in this crisis: the states that have done so now are in a much better position in responding to crisis".   

On the Recovery Fund, "the Commission will have to approve the plans, but the governments themselves will be in the cockpit," notes Dombrovskis, who underlines on the negotiations "the sense of urgency. Part of the money would be available already this year, but we need of an agreement already this month ".