The pro-Brexit Tory MP told DW News he believed the core European Union monetary project would soon collapse because of the rise of right-wing populism across the bloc. Mr Jenkin claimed the eurozone will “break up” as the credibility of the Brussels bloc continues to fade at the eyes of its member states. The Conservative politician gave the obvious example of Italy to warn the budget row between the eurosceptic Italian Government and Brussels will lead to future clashes.
He said: “Right-wing populism makes the European Union like a very fragile political project with very tender and vulnerable credibility with populations in other European countries.
“Happily we haven’t got a right-wing party in the UK because our parliamentary system absorbs those political and economic shocks.”
Confronted by the claim the EU is “more popular” in the member countries than it’s been in the last 30 years, the Tory MP replied: “Well, let’s see.
“Let’s see what’s happened in Italy, for example, where they elected a very anti-EU government.”
The DW reporter pointed out the Italian Government had just “backed down over its budgets problem s with Brussels”.
Mr Jenkin responded: “And you think that’s going to lead to peace between the Italian Government and Brussels in the long term?”
Asked if he was suggesting the budget row would lead to a “war” between the Italian Government and the Brussels bloc, he replied: “I suspect the eurozone, in the end, will break up because it’s unsustainable.”
Experts have also predicted that 2020 will be a bitter year for the EU as the bloc pays the price for its fraught budget agreement with Rome.
Standing at €2.3 trillion, Italy’s economy is running with one of the world’s highest public debts.
Rome currently has to scramble together more than €1billion every single day from other lenders to pay off its monumental debt, which is 130 percent of total economic output.
In tough negotiations throughout most of last year, Rome’s proposed budget was repeatedly slammed by EU bosses as plans for increased spending threatened to plunge the country into financial crisis.
Rome proposed a debt target of 2.4 percent of GDP but the EU would only allow 2.04 percent for 2019, falling to 1.8 percent next year and 1.5 percent in 2021 as the bloc desperately tried to sort out Italy’s enormous bills.
Italy’s ruling coalition was ordered into a climbdown before Christmas over its deficit target and the new budget forces the Italian government into spending €10.25 billion less than they had hoped.
However, forecasters are concerned the budget does not go far enough as Rome’s leaders refused lower targets in order to still have enough money available to fulfil election promises.