Premier Matteo Renzi on Monday said that Europe risks becoming the globe's Cinderella unless the European Union reforms itself. "Either the EU changes direction, or we risk becoming the globe's Cinderella," Renzi told the Senate in an address on Italy's duty presidency of the EU, which ends this month. "The world is running, albeit more slowly, and Europe is in a period of effective stagnation, with growth almost halted".
Renzi reiterated his call for the European Union to allow greater flexibility in the application of its budget rules.
"The European Union cannot just be a battleground between bookkeepers who think about 0.something," Renzi said.
"It has to become everyone's political home, otherwise no one will have a future".
The premier added that Germany, the champion of fiscal rigour, benefited from such budget flexibility in the past.
"The unification between the two German States would not have been possible without flexibility," Renzi said.
"The flexibility requested in 2003, approved under an Italian duty presidency, made it possible to break the 3% (deficit-to-GDP-ratio) limit that we continue to believe in". He also argued that Italy was faithful to EU Stability and Growth Pact after the European Commission said last week that his government's 2015 budget bill, which includes 18 billion euros in tax cuts in a bid to boost the recession-hit economy, risked breaking it.
The Commission said it will reassess the situation in March.
"Italy is faithful to the Pact, but you have to remember that it has a name and a surname," Renzi said.
"It's not just called Stability Pact, there's also the word growth".
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