In his first live TV appearance on La7’s Di Martedì since the March 4 general elections, Italy‘s leader pledged he would make no concessions to Brussels and said his duties lied with the Italian electorate.
Mr Conte was asked to reveal his negotiating position with the EU over the controversial 2019 budget proposal rejected by the European Commission last month.
Asked whether he would be prepared to concede anything on the budget to the Commission, the Italian Prime Minister responded: “I have to make concessions to Italian citizens, not to Europe.
“You’re wrong to ask me what I am going to concede to Europe.”
The EU’s Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Rome must realise it cannot break the bloc’s fiscal rules, which it is in breach of with its bumper spending plan.
Brussels is concerned Rome’s budget proposals would increase Italy’s public debt burden due to the planned boost in spending.
The bloc demanded Rome comes up with a revised budget, but Italy has continued to insist it must increase its deficit to 2.4 percent, which breaks EU fiscal rules designed to protect the Eurozone.
Commissioner Mr Moscovici said: “I want a dialogue, but sanctions can be finally applied if we cannot reach an agreement.
“On the 13th of November we expect a strong, precise answer from the Italian government.”
Mr Moscovici said the next step for Italy depends on the country’s budget response.
He has said: “The ball is now in Italy’s court.
“Member states must fully respect national democratic choices, but they should not run counter to our rules.”
However, Matteo Salvini’s eurosceptic Government coalition have refused to go back on their word and change the proposed budget.
The Commission has traditionally waited for final data on public finances before taking disciplinary action on eurozone states.
Sanctions could include a fine of up to 0.2 percent of its GDP, the suspension of billions of euros in EU funds and closer fiscal monitoring by the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
The EU could go in even harder with a fine of up to 0.5 percent of its GDP as well as taking control of Italy’s plans to issue new debt and a reduction of multi-billion-euro loans from the European Investment Bank.