Economics
Tria Tells EU Italy to Review Spending as Populists Squabble
- Five Star deputy says premier intervened on welfare issue
- League’s Salvini not worried about EU response to Tria letter
Giovanni Tria
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Italy’s fractious populist coalition has clashed on issues ranging from immigration controls to regional autonomy in its first year of governing. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Italy’s response to the European Commission’s concerns about controlling debt also sparked tension.
Finance Minister Giovanni Tria’s letter, released late Friday, required Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s mediation after the anti-establishment Five Star Movement objected to a reference to a welfare-spending cut, according to Deputy Finance Minister Laura Castelli of Five Star.