Monday

2nd Oct 2023

Renzi continues row with new EU commission chief

Italy's PM Matteo Renzi has demanded "respect" for his country after new EU commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker criticised his and David Cameron's behaviour during an EU summit.

"For Italy, its past, its future, I demand respect. Or rather, I insist on the sort of respect the country deserves," Renzi tweeted on Tuesday evening (4 November) under the hashtag "Europe".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Only a few hours earlier, Juncker told the European Parliament that he disapproved of the way Renzi and his British counterpart Cameron "amplified problems" at the last EU summit, where they both picked fights with the EU commission over budget matters.

"I have to tell my friend Renzi I am not the chairman of a gang of bureaucrats. I am the president of the European Commission, a political institution, and I want leaders to respect these institutions," Juncker said.

Renzi had accused outgoing commission chief Barroso of nitpicking over Italy's national budget and made public a confidential letter Barroso sent to Rome.

Juncker also suggested Rome was lucky to scrape through an initial review by Brussels of its 2015 budget despite running an excessive deficit, saying that "if Barroso only listened to bureaucrats, Italy's budget would have been treated differently."

He also suggested Renzi and Cameron had been disingenuous with their audiences back home about what had been said in the EU council.

"For a long period of time I have taken notes and compared what is said in the room and what is said outside the room. From time to time it happens that the notes do not coincide," he said.

"As far as the British Prime Minister is concerned, and after listening to what Mr Cameron has said, I have to say that the way things are presented to the British public opinion are totally different than they should be presented by respecting the rules of the treaty," Juncker added.

Cameron's row with the EU commission is about an outstanding €2bn bill to the EU budget, which emerged after Britain changed the way it calculates its gross national income.

Juncker pointed out that it was the member states themselves who adopted the rules on how much they have to pay into the budget. "The commission only applies these rules adopted by the member states."

But he did acknowledge that in London's case the "size of the problem has a totally different dimension than it had in the past" and said that the commission and the Italian presidency were working on a solution.

“It is not a British problem, it is a problem for the whole of the European Union and we have to find a general solution,” he said, noting that the impact on the Dutch budget is far larger than on the British budget.

Renzi - one year on

One year on from ousting party colleague Letta to become the youngest-ever prime minister since Mussolini, go-getting Renzi is still the coolest kid on Italy’s political scene.

Juncker gives glimpse of 'political commission'

New EU commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has vowed to defend his institution from "unjustified attacks" from EU leaders, as he chaired the first meeting of the College of commissioners.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Latest News

  1. The realists vs idealists Brussels battle on Ukraine's EU accession
  2. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  3. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  4. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  5. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  6. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  7. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  8. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us