Italian Premier Wants New Europe Chief to Review Budget Rules

(Bloomberg) -- Italy wants the next chief of the European Commission to be ready to review the bloc’s budget rules, just as the country is embroiled in a tussle with Brussels over its huge debt pile.

“Italy is working to promote as next European Commission chief a personality of great depth who cares about social equity but is also able to review Europe’s governance rules,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told reporters at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. European nations should decide on the bloc’s top jobs together, he said.

Conte’s cabinet meets Monday to approve a budget update as part of Italy’s efforts to avoid a penalty from Brussels over its failure to rein in debt. That endeavor is being jeopardized by divisions within the ruling coalition, with Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio clashing over Salvini’s push to slash taxes.

“I expect Europe will have a positive judgment on our update, I’m confident on this,” Finance Minister Giovanni Tria told reporters in Osaka.

Conte also reiterated his confidence in a positive outcome from talks with the European Commission, to avert the so-called excessive deficit procedure. He reaffirmed that the 2019 deficit will be at 2.1%. Both he and Tria have pledged that the country will respect European Union budget rules.

The prime minister was also asked about ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Taranto, Europe’s biggest, which risks being shut down after Italy passed a decree that tightens environmental regulations.

ArcelorMittal has said it would be impossible to operate the site beyond Sept. 6 should the decree deprive it of criminal immunity before a cleanup upgrade is completed in 2023.

“Arcelor’s plan in Italy can’t be based on a rule waiver,” Conte said.

ArcelorMittal has pledged to invest almost 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in its Italian operations as it returns the former Ilva plant’s three blast furnaces to profit and roughly doubles steel output by 2023.

--With assistance from Gregory Viscusi.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net;Alessandro Speciale in Rome at aspeciale@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Amanda Jordan, James Amott

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