Italy's debt-burdened government approved a package of economic reforms Tuesday (11 April) designed to cut €3.4 billion from its deficit this year, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said, following pressure from Brussels.
The European Parliament insists that fiscal consolidation and reforms are not enough and that the EU should have a strong priority in investment in Europe and expanding the internal domestic demand, Maria João Rodrigues told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has stepped up his war of words with Brussels by comparing the European Union to the orchestra that kept on playing as the Titanic sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic.
As European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker prepares to unveil a €300 billion plan to boost investment in the Union, the liberal ALDE and the Socialists in Parliament tabled alternative proposals, stoking controversy amongst themselves.