Italy has asked for reform of the rules governing the ESM to temporarily exclude certain investment expenditures, particularly in the digital sphere and for the green transition, including those made within the framework of the EU-funded post-Covid National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the statement said.
We are looking for a way to continue to work together, taking into account the fact that the Italian public is very sensitive to the ESM,” Donohoe later told Rai News 24.
However, “it remains an instrument on whose introduction all countries agreed, and we want to make it available in the future for any government that requests it,” he added.
Late last month a clearly displeased European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told Italy to stop dragging its heels over ratification of the reform of the ESM.
“The time frame and manner in which the Italian government and parliament decides on the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism should not be in question,” Gentiloni said as he arrived at the informal ECOFIN meeting in Stockholm.
“It was decided more than two years ago.”
Italy is the only EU country holding out on ratifying the reform, which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticised on several occasions.
The Italian PM has said the EU should unlock ESM funds for “other initiatives” so it can be a vehicle for growth.
ANSA
