The European commisson's evaluation in Italy's macroeconomic imbalances.Between the flexibility granted and the desired reliability (original) (raw)

The European economic governance reform of 2011 (the socalled six pack) has placed a greater emphasis on macroeconomic surveillance, through the introduction of mechanisms that are both preventative and corrective, adopted from the procedures which have already been applied for public finance with the PSC. In fact, following the financial crisis of 2008, the link between public finances and the complex economic situation was highlighted. In this perspective, the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure also includes the possibility that some Member States with excessive macroeconomic imbalances are subjected to an indepth review (In Depth Review-IDR) aimed at implementing the re-entry measures recommended by the Council. With regard to Italy, the final Report of the Commission within the MIP framework indicates, besides the high level of debt and low competitiveness, some elements of weakness which undermine the path to rehabilitation and development of the country. The study aims to retrace the main observations which the European Commission has expressed in the Report of November 2014 in order to consider which reforms have been carried out and what is the gap between the re-entry path recommended by the European institution and the actions of the Italian government. The analysis of the Italian case emphasises that the economic evaluations of European institutions are necessarily conditioned by the national and European political context. In fact, the credibility of the first conditions the granting of greater flexibility in the application of the rules. Simultaneously, an analogous conditioning derives from political interactions between the rigorous front and its opponents.