Friday

29th Mar 2024

Combative Renzi hits out at German central banker

  • Barroso and Renzi (r) - 'Our problem is not Germany' (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

A combative Matteo Renzi on Friday (4 July) slapped down comments directed at Italy by German central banker Jens Weidmann, saying banks have no business getting involved in Italian politics.

Speaking to press in Rome to mark the launch of country's EU presidency, the Italian PM referred to “polemical arguments by some German bankers,” and said "I believe the Bundesbank has a task and that is the pursuing of its statutory goals. The Bundesbank does not have among its tasks to take part in the Italian debate.”

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

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

... or subscribe as a group

"Just as I don’t talk about the sparkassen or the regional banks, then I don’t expect the Bundesbank to talk about Italian politics”.

He was resonding to statements made by Weidmann on Thursday.

The German noted Renzi had called the EU a “boring old aunt” which tells Rome what to do, saying such comments indicate Italy is not seriously committed to giving up fiscal sovereignty.

The Italian media took it up as front page news, saying Weidmann was chastising Italy for not reforming quickly enough.

It is the second time in as many days Rome has felt itself under attack by a German politician.

Media also gave front page treatment to the head of the centre-right faction in the EP, Manfred Weber, who in Strasbourg this week strongly challenged Renzi’s call for flexibility on applying the rules underpinning the euro.

Weber said it would not be fair to other countries, such as Ireland and Portugal, which had passed painful reforms while trying to bring their budget deficits to below the three-percent-of-GDP required by EU rules.

Italians were clearly irritated by Weber’s words, with one contact remarking that the German deputy had been “very unhelpful” and was “not speaking on behalf of the EPP”.

But Renzi was also careful not to make Italy out as a victim or to drag in German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Our problem is not Germany. Our problem is Italy. We need to reform Italy and we are aware of that”, he said on Friday.

"I have not seen any marked disagreements with German politicians. There is no contrast with the German government in respect of either stability or flexibility."

War of words

The war of words represents a new fault line in European politics, with Renzi, a young and ambitious Social Democrat riding the back of a strong victory in the EU elections, setting out to challenge the northern Europe-dominated narrative of fiscal rectitude and austerity.

He has positioned himself as the champion of a "flexible" interpretation of the euro rules. However, the interpretation of the word is in itself flexible.

Rome has been saying it has won concessions on the incoming commission's strategic agenda and on how euro rules are applied. But diplomats from some other member states argue it has won little.

The European Commission, for its part, notes that it is already being flexible, having given extra deficit-reduction time to France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, also in Rome on Friday, said “I believe this debate is a little overblown" and indicated that Rome needs to undertake "structural reforms" to get into Brussels' good books.

While Renzi has been busy shaking up the European political scene, his power is seen as dependent on his ability to carry out changes.

The Italian leader has said he intends to reform the tax, judicial, public administration and electoral systems.

He has given himself 1,000 days to do it, beginning 1 September and ending 28 May 2017. He says his Italian goals are part of a wider effort of "injecting hope and enthusiasm into Europe".

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us