About: Luigi Di Maio Archives

France has summoned Italy's ambassador to protest against comments by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who accused Paris of continuing to colonise Africa and causing people to migrate from the continent, a government source told AFP.

Italy's Five Star Movement has decried the "waste of money” of the European Parliament's seat in Strasbourg, putting its abolition at the centre of the party's campaign for the European elections in May.

Promoting direct democracy and reducing overspending in politics are among the priorities that the new political group will promote in a manifesto to be published in the run-up to the 2019 European elections.

Luigi Di Maio, the Italian deputy prime minister and leader of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), likened the French ‘yellow vests’ to his own political movement. Moreover, he openly criticised the French government. EURACTIV France reports.

Italy has done a deal with the European Commission over its contested 2019 budget, a spokeswoman at the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday (18 December), signaling an end to weeks of wrangling that had shaken financial markets.

Italy’s deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said he was confident about ongoing talks with the European Commission over the country’s budget, despite a fresh recommendation by EU government representatives on Thursday (29 November) to open an excessive deficit procedure against Italy.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio called on Monday (29 October) for unity within his 5-Star Movement after the anti-establishment party was forced to renege on an electoral pledge to halt a major, international gas transport project.

The Italian government expects the European Commission to decide for the first time ever on Tuesday (23 October) to ask a member state to revise its draft budget, a government source said on Sunday.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday (11 October) he did not expect Italy to need aid to deal with its debt pile. Any intervention by the European Central Bank would require Italy to formally apply for a rescue programme, sources said. 

The Italian government on Thursday (4 October) dismissed concerns that the European Commission would reject its plan to raise deficit spending next year and signalled that it would not backtrack, even under market pressure.

A war of words took place days after Rome announced a big spending boost in defiance of the European Union that has spooked the markets and has EU capitals fearing a return of the debt crisis.

The European Union on Friday (28 September) issued a stern warning to Italy's populist leaders following their defiant pledge to increase spending and run a budget deficit that risks putting Rome on a collision course with Brussels.

Italy's government on Thursday (27 September) targeted the budget deficit at 2.4% of gross domestic product for the next three years, defying Brussels and marking a victory for party chiefs over economy minister Giovanni Tria, an unaffiliated technocrat.

Luigi Di Maio, a key figure in Italy's populist government, has taken aim at the country's newspapers, accusing them of "polluting the debate" and threatening to pull advertising by state-owned companies.

Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger flew to Rome on Thursday (13 September),  as part of a series of official visits he is doing to present the long-term EU budget (MFF) proposal. But he only talked to Italian deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement.

Party leaders in the Italian coalition government signalled they will seek leeway from the EU to increase next year's budget deficit, heading on a collision course with the European Commission and investors who want it cut.

It is in no one's interest to hold up budget negotiations at the European Union, the bloc's budget chief warned Tuesday (28 August) after Italy threatened a blockade over the migrant issue.

Hungary’s illiberal Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini launched Tuesday (28 August) an anti-migration manifesto aiming at next year's European parliament elections, targeting a common enemy.

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday (27 August) threatened to veto the European Union's seven-year budget plan should the bloc not do more to share the burden of migrant arrivals.

Italy’s deputy prime ministers are in disagreement over whether the country’s motorway network should be nationalised following the tragic bridge collapse in Genoa on 14 August.

Although the 150 migrants stranded on the Diciotti rescue ship were able to disembark on Sunday (26 August), Italy’s firebrand Interior Minister Matteo Salvini engaged in another vilification of the EU, calling it “filth” and reiterating threats to stop EU funding.

The European Commission said on Friday (24 August) it will not bow to threats such as those made by Italian deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio, who warned his country could stop paying into the EU budget unless other member states agreed to take in migrants held on a coastguard ship in Sicily.

The European Commission has called a meeting today (25 August) after Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said his party would vote to suspend funding to the EU unless other member states agreed to take in migrants being held on a coastguard ship in Sicily.

US President Donald Trump traded smiles, handshakes and compliments with Italy's populist leader Giuseppe Conte Monday (30 July), as the two rightists presented a united front on everything from Russia to immigration.