Italy Wants to Roll the Dice on the Euro All Over Again
Brussels is acutely aware of Italy’s new-found spunk and how it can use its leverage on EU jobs.
The Italian ministry of finance and economy in Rome.
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
Four days after his triumph in last month’s European elections, Matteo Salvini strode into the Italian Treasury with his most senior advisers and told Finance Minister Giovanni Tria that from now on he was going to be more involved in economic policy.
The 46-year-old deputy prime minister explained to Tria that he had a new sense of responsibility for the Treasury’s work after his pro-business League’s election victory, according to officials with knowledge of the exchange. As a signal of intent, he demanded to see the defense of Italian budget policy that Tria’s team was preparing for the European Commission.