MNI BRIEF: Europe “Closer To A Deal” On Fiscal Rules –Scholz

The European Union is “closer to a deal than ever before” on new fiscal rules, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday in a press conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Berlin.

“We are working intensively,” Scholz said, adding that some progress was made during the last ECOFIN meeting of finance ministers, though issues remain to be agreed. (MNI: Hopes Rise In Dash For EU Fiscal Rule Deal By Year End)

The meeting between Scholz and Meloni was useful for defining “the different needs” of both countries, so middle-ground solutions can be found, the Italian leader said.

While Germany stresses the importance of fiscal discipline, Italy is focusing on protecting investments and enabling strategic spending in areas like energy transition or defence spending, she said.

Asked about the technical differences that separates both countries, Meloni said it was difficult to give numbers without knowing what elements of investment could be exempted from borrowing limits and that Italy wanted a pact that “was possible to respect.”