Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday that "there will be a French problem" on top of an Italian one if its deficit breaches EU rules after Emmanuel Macron unveiled measures to quell protests. An increased deficit "will create a French problem, after the Italian problem, if the rules are the same for everyone," said Di Maio, whose own big-spending budget is facing EU disciplinary measures for breaching deficit rules.
Italy's budget for 2019 was the first in history to be rejected by Brussels for breaking spending rules, and the populist government of Di Maio's Five Star Movement (M5S) and Matteo Salvini's far-right League is trying to come up with another draft. Meeting the EU's three percent deficit limit had been a centrepiece of Macron's European strategy in order to win the trust of powerful Berlin and its backing for EU reforms.
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