In the negotiations on the EU Pact, the hypothesis on the timing of the minimum debt reduction envisaged for countries exceeding 60% of GDP is becoming less stringent. This is what emerges from the latest version of the working document prepared by the Spanish Presidency of the EU for Ecofin. The turnaround was achieved on the basis of a Danish proposal, which provides for the reduction of debt in the 4 years after the adjustment period (4 years extendable to 7 which become 8 extendable to 11). The Germans demanded that the decline take place as early as the last year, while the initial Spanish draft reached 14 years (17 in the case of extension). This is what emerges from the document consulted by ANSA and from sources familiar with the negotiations.
Nadia Calvino, Minister of Economy of Spain, the country holding the rotating presidency of the EU, excludes that there are countries that in the current negotiations on the Stability Pact would prefer a return to the old rules rather than penalizing hypotheses with additional safeguards on the deficit: "I have not heard these remarks from any state in the very intense exchanges we have had in recent weeks", he said at the press conference at the end of Ecofin. "What we have heard today is a very strong commitment to adopt the new rules and an appeal from all institutions" to find an agreement.
In the reform of the Stability Pact, Italy is not afraid of a return to the fiscal rules currently suspended with the safeguard clause, with respect to penalizing revision hypotheses that provide for further parameters of a decline in the deficit below 3% of GDP. This is what we learn from sources at the MEF. Rome, on the other hand, is not afraid of the idea of putting in place safeguards for the average annual decline in debt, as long as they are on sustainable and credible values.