Italy’s Salvini Seeks Easier EU Budget Rules Post-Vote: Corriere

(Bloomberg) -- Matteo Salvini said he expects European Parliament elections to pave the way for a revamp of EU rules that could help keep Italy from straying over debt limits.

“We need to change those rules, because they have proved wrong,” Italian Deputy Prime Minister Salvini said in an interview with Corriere della Sera Saturday. “I am ready to sit with Merkel, Macron, with everyone.”

The government run by Salvini and coalition partner Luigi Di Maio of the Five Star Movement is looking to Sunday’s election result to create a more lenient Parliament.

Italy -- the most indebted nation in the euro region after Greece -- isn’t at risk of breaching EU rules, Salvini said. Adhering to Brussels’ debt limits has been a topic of contention for leaders of a nation whose debt has swelled to 132% of gross domestic product at the end of last year.

Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said earlier this week that Italy can honor EU budget limits, belying requests from deputy ministers for more flexibility to fund costly programs.

In almost a year of sharing power, the two parties have struggled to find common ground on issues ranging from taxes to immigration. The election may redraw the battle lines in the coalition, although Salvini has said he isn’t looking to replace cabinet members following the vote.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Albanese in Rome at calbanese10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Cecile Gutscher, James Amott

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