The EU has lost patience over Italy’s ratification of the Mes

“The ratification of the Mes is fundamental to our efforts and we will continue to engage with Italy on this issue”. The words are of Paschal Donohoepresident of the Eurogroup, in his traditional letter sent to Charles Michel, president of the European Council, a few hours after the meeting of the twenty-seven countries in Brussels. An unusual specification, the one on Italy’s failure to ratify the bailout fund, which reveals the nervousness at the top levels of the EU due to the hesitation of the government. which, through Antonio Tajanireiterated again this morning that the reform “will not be ratified until there is also a serious banking union and fiscal harmonization”.

“We must honor our commitments and implement them,” Donohoe always writes. Which, even on the issue raised by the government of the banking union, defines its “strengthening” as “priority”. While Italy’s ratification of the ESM is unlikely to become a topic of discussion at the European Council that starts tomorrow, Donohoe’s letter brings the issue to the level of heads of state and government. A headache that adds up to the controversy over the tightening of interest rates, announced by the ECB for July and harshly criticized by the prime minister this morning in the Chamber. “We remain committed to implementing policies that counter inflationary pressures and in particular to continuing our close coordination of fiscal policies”, says Donohoe instead, who thus seems to support the choice of Christine Lagarde.