Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Il patto di stabilita' messo in discussione

** F/up in it.politica **
ITALIA PIDE UNA REVISION DEL PACTO DE ESTABILIDAD PARA CRECER MAS
Notizia dal sito di "El Pais", 26 Giugno
www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_date=20020626&xref=20020626elp
epieco_14&type=Tes&anchor=elpepieco
BRUSELAS - Primero fue Alemania, después Portugal, Francia y Reino
Unido y ahora es Italia la que pide que se revisen los términos del
Pacto de Estabilidad. El ministro italiano de Finanzas, Giulio Tremonti,
considera que se deben excluir temporalmente en el cálculo del déficit
de los presupuestos nacionales determinadas partidas de gastos que
realizan los gobiernos y que se debe poner ahora más el acento en
el crecimiento y en la flexibilidad.
La Comisión Europea dejó claro ayer que actualmente no hay margen para
realizar cambios adicionales en los términos del pacto, y que en la cumbre
de Sevilla quedó claro el compromiso de los Quince al respecto.
La de Tremonti es una invitación más a la reflexión y una respuesta a la vez
a las preocupaciones planteadas por el nuevo ministro de Finanzas francés,
Francis Mer, que pidió en la reunión extraordinaria de los ministros de
Finanzas del pasado jueves en Madrid una reinterpretación más 'inteligente'
del Pacto de Estabilidad y mayor 'flexibilidad' para promover la
competitividad de las empresas. 'Italia no busca actuar unilateralmente
en esta cuestión', precisó el ministro italiano en declaraciones
al diario británico "Financial Times".
El Ejecutivo italiano considera que ya se superó la fase de la estabilidad
económica para la puesta en circulación del euro y que de lo que se trata
ahora es de entrar en una nueva etapa que permita al mismo tiempo mantener
ese equilibrio y poner el acento en el apartado relativo al crecimiento.
Para ello considera necesario que durante un tiempo limitado se excluya del
cálculo del déficit el gasto derivado de las infraestructuras, defensa,
ayuda exterior y reformas estructurales.
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EUROPE: TREMONTI CALLS FOR OVERHAUL OF EU STABILITY PACT
James Blitz, "Financial Times" del 25 Giugno
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=020625000723&query=tremo
ti&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
Giulio Tremonti, Italy's finance minister, is feeling pretty pleased
with things these days.
Since Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government won power in Italy one
year ago, Mr Tremonti has been caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, he has
been desperate to push through the cuts in personal and company taxation
that Mr Berlusconi promised Italians in the course of last year's election
campaign. On the other hand, he has been unable to make these tax
reductions, amid signs that Italy's public finances are overshooting the
deficit reduction pledges made to European Union partners under the rules
governing the management of the euro.
Last week's meeting of EU finance ministers in Madrid brought him much
needed relief and has given him the opportunity to call for an overhaul of
the EU's growth and stability pact.
While attention was concentrated on the important concessions won
by the new French government regarding its deficit reduction Italy
also won concessions. The country is no longer required to balance
its budget in 2003, but only to bring its deficit "close to balance", or
down to 0.5 per cent GDP.
"When we publish the DPEF [Italy's annual budget projections] next week, we
will record our initial plan for a 0 per cent deficit figure in 2003," says
Mr Tremonti. "But next to that we will set out plans for tax reductions in
2003 which will give us the small deficit that we have now been conceded."
Mr Tremonti is thinking beyond the details of next year's budget, however.
"Last week, we saw a reform in Madrid that removed a small handicap for the
Italian economy," he says. "We must now look at how we can make a more
substantial change for the European economy as a whole." He leaves little
doubt that the target he has in mind is the growth and stability pact, which
sets strict limits for the size of national government deficits.
Here, Mr Tremonti wants to make two points. First, economic policy-making
in the EU had come to a turning point following the successful launch
of the euro. "Balanced budgets were required in the first phase when we
were in the process of setting up the euro. Now we must try to move
to another phase, one which maintains stability but also puts the emphasis
on growth and flexibility."
Secondly, he believes that the axis of power in economic policymaking in
Europe is shifting. He says the European Commission had played an important
role in recent years by strongly advocating budgetary stability during the
period of the euro's creation.
But it is now becoming increasingly clear that Ecofin, the regular meeting
of finance ministers from the 15 nation states, is the forum where the major
decisions are now being taken. "We are moving from technocracy to democracy.
It's not a move from the left to the right but from the old to the new."
The Italian finance minister believes Ecofin must now look at what he calls
the "reinterpretation" of the stability pact.
"I think we need to look at the idea that government spending on
infrastructure, defence, overseas aid and structural economic reform should
be excluded, in part or for a limited period, from national budget
calculations under the pact."
He adds: "This is at the moment a hypothesis and there is no way that Italy
would seek to act unilaterally on this issue... but we need to find an
equilibrium between stability, growth and flexibility."
Mr Tremonti's decision to call for a reinterpretation of the pact suggests
he is anticipating stronger calls for such a change come the autumn. Last
week, Francis Mer, his French counterpart, demanded greater flexibility in
the interpretation of the pact to promote industrial competitiveness. "That
was a very powerful speech and my comments here are largely a response
to that," says Mr Tremonti.
He knows that other EU finance ministers are also keen to see stability pact
reform. Gordon Brown, the UK chancellor, has thrown his weight behind a
reinterpretation of the pact, but taking into account other factors such as
the level of national debt.
Berlin may also join the reform calls if Edmund Stoiber, the German
centre-right leader, wins Germany's general election in September.
But Mr Tremonti knows that the Italian government cannot be seen to call for
change too forcefully. Italy continues to have a debt that is 110 per cent
of GDP, the largest in the eurozone. And officials at the Commission in
Brussels continue to have doubt about the sustainability of Italy's public
finances. This is a debate in which Italy - and Mr Tremonti in
particular - will always be a follower rather than a leader.
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Trascritto da Andrea
salo...@mediacomm.it


Ecco dove porta la finanza creativa della banda bassotti: si vuole
semplicemente aumentare l'inflazione per dare la sensazione di una
crescita, lì dove c'è una recessione.
Buona parte delle contrarietà di questo governo verso l'Europa
derivano dal fatto che non si possono fare i soliti sporchi trucchi
economici di una volta: non si può pompare sul deficit e
sull'inflazione per dare quella finta sensazione di benessere di cui
la banda bassotti ha assoluto bisogno.
Non dimentichiamo che alle ultime amministrative è apparso chiaro che
questo governo rappresenta una minoranza e che tale minoranza si sta
rimpicciolendo.