MNI: Italy In No Hurry To Ratify ESM Treaty Changes - Official

The Italian government is no hurry to push for ratification of changes to the European Stability Mechanism treaty once the six-month freeze on debating the matter in its national parliament comes to an end, and a future vote is only likely from the autumn, a source close to the ruling coalition told MNI.

While Italy’s failure to ratify the reform has held up a key piece of European Union financial architecture for years, the government’s legislative agenda is already full and it sees little reason to accelerate a repeat of the debate which took place in December. At that time, parliament rejected the ESM reform, despite calls for its approval from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose right-wing coalition split over the issue, meaning it could not be debated again for at least half a year.

“Parliamentary power is independent from the executive,” said one Italian official, adding that ESM ratification was “not a priority.”

BARGAINING CHIP

Before finally deciding to push for ratification, Italian officials implied they could use the ESM as a bargaining chip in fiscal talks with Europe, but Meloni has now made clear that the matter is separate from negotiations with Brussels. (See MNI: Meloni Seeks To Delay Deal On Top EU Jobs Until French Vote-Officials)

 Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, a member of the right-wing League which shares government with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, told the annual meeting of the ESM’s board of governors in Luxembourg on Thursday that he was sorry to hear from colleagues from other countries that failure to ratify was affecting Italy’s position in talks over the makeup of the incoming European Commission, adding “this does not facilitate calm political discussions.”