BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Italy’s draft 2023 budget draft is overall in line with policies agreed by EU governments in July, the European Commission said on Wednesday, but noted that it had several drawbacks.
The Commission’s opinion is part of a formal process in the EU under which the EU executive checks every year if draft budgets of euro zone countries for the following year are in line with EU rules.
If the draft budget is seen as breaking the rules, the Commission can send it back and request a new one.
“Overall, Italy’s updated Draft Budgetary Plan is in line with the Council Recommendations of July 2022: Italy limits the growth of nationally financed primary current expenditure and it plans to finance public investment for the green and digital transitions, and for energy security,” the Commission said.
“The Commission is also of the opinion that Italy has not yet made progress with regard to the structural part of the fiscal recommendations …, which required Italy to adopt and appropriately implement the enabling law on the tax reform
to further reduce taxes on labour and increase the efficiency of the tax system,” the Commission statement said.
“Moreover, Italy’s updated draft budgetary plan includes measures that are not consistent with the structural part of previous fiscal recommendations, namely in the area of pensions and tax evasion, including on the compulsory use of e-payments and the legal thresholds for cash payments,” it said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)
