Tension between Europe and ‘troublemaker-in-chief’ Italy

As Italy once again picks fights with the EU and the financial markets, the message from Brussels is clear: You might win the battle, but you won’t win the war.

Italy is increasingly becoming EU troublemaker-in-chief by pushing for a national budget that would substantially raise the deficit and by playing hardball on migration — and the feeling in Brussels is that the Italians have underestimated how tough the EU can be.

Valdis Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice president, told reporters Tuesday that Italy is the EU country that has benefited most “from flexibility.” That point was echoed by the European Court of Auditors, which warned that the European Commission has applied its fiscal rules with excessive flexibility, making them ineffective in reducing debt in countries such as Italy where debt is very high.

“After the extreme difficulty tackling the Greek crisis, we have to do everything to avoid a new Greek, or rather an Italian, crisis this time,” Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday at an event in Germany. “One crisis was enough and we have to prevent Italy from being able to get special treatment here that, if everybody were to get it, would mean the end of the euro. In this respect, Italy has to be treated strictly and fairly.”

Since the new government took office in June, Italy has alienated even its closest ally, Malta, by accusing it of not being helpful in dealing with migrants. It’s also annoyed many other EU countries on migration: Italy’s refusal to open up its ports to rescue boats in the Mediterranean has forced EU leaders to find case-by-case solutions to migration problems — an approach described by diplomats as “blackmailing,” “hijacking” and “not something constructive.”

There have already been consequences. In August, when Italy had a problem with a boat used by its coast guard that rescued migrants, the only EU country to offer help was Ireland. When Malta had a similar problem, there was no shortage of offers of assistance.

Politico