Italy’s Senate clears revised budget ahead of EU deadline

The upper house of Italy’s parliament has approved a revised budget plan for 2019 after a tense standoff with the European Union (EU) and despite opposition complaints that the process has been rushed to meet an EU deadline.

Members of the Italian Senate on Sunday passed the budget plan proposed by the governing coalition of the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League Party by 167 votes to 78, with three abstentions.

Italy’s populist government has been under pressure to get the new draft approved by both houses of the parliament before a deadline set by the European Commission — the executive arm of the EU — for December 31.

Opposition lawmakers in the parliament have criticized the Italian government for rushing the vote in order to avoid an in-depth scrutiny of the bill. The government, on the other hand, insists that the revised bill safeguards the rights and privileges of the lower and middle social classes as promised.

“We are not dismayed but bewildered. You are not only amateurs, you are dangerous,” Senator Anna Maria Bernini from the Italian far-right party Forza Nuova (New Force) told the governing parties. “Enough of the tricks! The situation is ridiculous. We are looking like scoundrels in front of the country.”

The proposed budget now has to be approved by the lower chamber of the Italian parliament before the designated date so it can take effect from the start of 2019.

The European Commission rejected Italy’s original budget in October over spending plans, threatening Italy with disciplinary action if Rome failed to comply with its request to revise the bill.

Forecasts by the EU have shown that Italy’s deficit will hit 2.9 percent of its GDP in 2019 and 3.1 percent in 2020, breaching the bloc’s 3.0-percent limit.

SS