Italy and France were the major euro area countries put on the European Commission's economic "watch-list" over fears about persistently high debt and deficit levels.
The two countries were among 14 nations deemed to have "macro-economic imbalances" in their economy by the EU executive in a series of reports on 17 countries published on Wednesday (5 March).
Italy "must address its very high level of public debt and weak external competitiveness," the commission said, adding that i...
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Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.