This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The Commission took stock today of the additional fiscal effort announced by the Italian authorities this week and concluded that it was material enough not to propose to the Council the opening of an Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) for Italy’s lack of compliance with the […]Commission concludes that an Excessive Deficit Procedure is no longer warranted for Italy at this stage
July 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The Commission took stock today of the additional fiscal effort announced by the Italian authorities this week and concluded that it was material enough not to propose to the Council the opening of an Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) for Italy’s lack of compliance with the […]Europe faces economic turmoil as Italy gets closer to the Excessive Debt Procedure
June 12, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Italy is in serious trouble as the EU deputy finance ministers seem to support the European Commission’s opinion on the actions required to reduce the country’s public debt. The huge growing debt together with the centre-right and euroskeptic alliance government is causing turbulences as regards its relations with Brussels. However, the Italian coalition leaders have […]Draghi’s negative interest rates help Eurozone’s cohesion
June 10, 2019 by 1 Comment
Super Mario did it again. Only months before leaving the helm of the European Central Bank he made sure his accommodative monetary policy will hold well, even after he leaves Frankfurt am Main. Last Thursday, he pushed interest rates below the zero level for at least another year. Even if his successor will be a […]Italy should boost spending and strengthen cooperation and integration of employment services to help more people into work
May 16, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Mr Giuseppe CONTE, Italian Prime Minister. Copyright: European Union Event: Special meeting of the European Council (Art. 50) This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Italy should boost spending and cooperation at national and regional levels as part of broader efforts to help more people into work and reduce the country’s high unemployment […]
EU elections 2019: Trump’s share in the support of populism
May 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
It was last Monday when the US President Donald Trump met the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House. Both leaders had the beautiful chance to praise each other at a gathering which lasted less than an hour. Only a few days ahead of the EU elections, the US President clearly shows his […]Wide-ranging reforms needed to ensure Italy’s economic recovery
April 2, 2019 by 1 Comment
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Stronger, more inclusive and sustainable growth, better job opportunities and a reduction in the level of public debt in Italy require a comprehensive programme of far-reaching reforms while maintaining the important measures taken in recent years, according to a new OECD report. The latest Economic Survey […]The EU might as well go down the drain if foreign meddling corrupts May’s elections
March 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The EU elections will take place in about two months’ time but anti-European together with foreign parties are most likely going to try to exert influence on the upcoming outcome. Anti-establishment parties are expected to change the current balance and status quo if the two mainstream parties, the conservative EPP (European People’s Party) and the […]Italy should boost investment in training for the future of work
March 12, 2019 by 8 Comments
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. The government, business and workers in Italy will need to invest substantially more in training to prepare for the future world of work, according to a new OECD report. Adult Learning in Italy: what role for training funds? says that the skills needed by workers for […]Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte: “Europe must listen to the people”
February 13, 2019 by 28 Comments
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Europe is facing “a fork in the road”, as “the people are urgently asking to be heard,” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told MEPs on Tuesday. In a plenary debate on the future of Europe, the Italian Prime Minister said: “This is a valuable […]2019: An unpredictable, confrontational and financially ominous year
December 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The global outlook for 2019 was already looking unpredictable and dangerously confrontational, but the firing of US Defense Secretary, the moderate retired general Jim Mattis makes it exponentially more so. During the past few months ‘America first’ President Donald Trump has dismissed all the top three reasonable American policy makers. First it was the State Department […]The economic cost of anti-vaccination movements in Italy
December 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article was exclusively written for the The European Sting by Mr. Francesco Rosiello, a doctor of medicine and surgery, graduated at “Sapienza-University of Rome”. He is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on […]Italy’s revised budget remains roughly unchanged waiting for Europe’s fury
November 14, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Italian government concluded its revised budget a few hours ago and as expected the Italian budget plan remained the same with small amendments, such as plans to sell off some government real estate, but still is not respecting the EU fiscal rules. The latter is most likely not going to be left unanswered by the […]German egotistic inward turn to badly hurt Europe after Merkel’s exit
November 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Angela Merkel’s era in Germany definitely comes to an end. It coincides, not necessarily in a causal manner, with the extreme right and xenophobic rising tendencies in the country’s political and social structures. These developments will put not only Germany to a political limbo but they will also freeze the progress of the European Union […]European Commission requests that Italy presents a revised draft budgetary plan for 2019
October 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has identified in the draft budgetary plan submitted by Italy for 2019 a particularly serious non-compliance with the fiscal recommendation addressed to Italy by the Council on 13 July 2018. In line with the relevant rules, the Commission has adopted an […]Populist Eurosceptics helped by Trumpists seriously threaten the EU edifice
October 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The confrontation between the populist Italian government and the European Union’s leadership has already left a clear trail on the European ground that permits us to project the itinerary of this conflict in the future. The Italian government is an unorthodox coalition of the extreme right wing party Lega, under its rebellious leader Matteo Salvini […]Migration crisis update: mutual actions and solidarity needed as anti-migrant policies thrive
September 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
An EU summit is taking place today in Salzburg, Austria where the EU leaders will discuss about the immigration crisis in the region and Brexit deal negotiations. The Parliament’s request to the member states regarding Hungary’s breach of the EU founding values is creating turbulences to the unity and solidarity of the Old Continent. The […]Draghi to lay his print on long term ECB policies prior to exiting next year
September 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, was criticized by major global financial media for insisting to end the easy money policy this December. The argument is that, after ECB’s Governing Council decided at the end of the prosperous 2017 to end its extraordinary monetary policy, the world has become a riskier place. […]EU migration crisis again accentuates lack of unity and solidarity among member states
June 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Almost nothing was achieved between the EU member states at the mini migration summit which was convened in Brussels last Sunday. Despite the German efforts, there was no common ground among EU leaders. The latter was mainly due to the fact that Italy’s new anti-migrant government is against the “first country responsibility” rule which obliges […]The US calls off globalization, targets Germany. Paris offer to Berlin comes at a cost
June 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Friday, the ‘America first’ President Donald Trump repeated his threats to impose a super tariff on imports of European cars, obviously having in mind the German automotive industry. His latest menace came only hours after the European Union moderately retaliated to the US aggressive trade action, by levying additional import duties on American goods […]The Bavarians threaten Berlin and Brussels with immigration crisis
June 21, 2018 by 2 Comments
In an unprecedented move, the German Interior Minister is betraying his boss – Chancellor Angela Merkel – and is forming an anti-refugee alliance with the extreme right-wing Austrian government and the precarious new Italian populist administration. The impossible German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, the leader of the Bavarian CSU party and junior partner in the […]G7 summit: Trump Vs. G6 leaders on trade and climate change
June 13, 2018 by 1 Comment
US President Donald Trump continued yesterday his fierceful critic to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the aftermath of last weekend’s G7 summit which took place in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada with the seven largest advanced economies in the world to discuss about gender equality, women’s empowerment, clean energy, and economic growth that works for […]At last Germany to negotiate the costs for a really cohesive Eurozone
June 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Finally, Germany blinked. Chancellor Angela Merkel at last decided to clearly respond and, up to a certain degree, uphold French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas, about reforming the Eurozone, in order not only to save it from unraveling, but, if possibe, to make it more cohesive and stronger. In an interview to last Sunday’s issue of […]Why Italy will not follow the Greek road; Eurozone to change or unravel
May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment
the next Italian election is, very probably, to take place within the next few months or even weeks. Then, Berlin, the rest of Eurozone capitals and probably the entire western financial world will learn, if it’s still politically possible to ask just one country’s taxpayers to save an obviously faltering global financial system. The test […]Draghi joined Macron in telling Germany how Eurozone must be reformed
May 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi the President of ECB, speaking at the European University Institute in Florence, on 11 May 2018, must have been under the influence of the idealistic aura of this Florentine learning institution. He went as far as proposing political policies, bravely overstepping his role as central banker of Eurozone. Draghi asked for an effective […]Macron and Trump press Merkel to recycle the German trade surpluses
May 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The divisive effect on Europe that Donald Trump’s trade war has generated, takes on new dimensions now. Only the European Sting highlighted this aspect, when the President of ‘America first’ fired the first shots, igniting the trade skirmishes. The differences, about how to respond to the US trade aggression, between the French President Emmanuel […]Germany readies to pay for the Brexit gap in EU finance
February 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
As expected, last Friday’s informal European Council of the 27 EU leaders didn’t produce any tangible result regarding its main agenda item; the future of Europe. The EU leaders just quarreled on who is to cover the hole in the budget, after Britain’s contribution ends with Brexit. In relation to this perennial question of money […]EU budget: Will Germany alone manage Britain’s gap?
February 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The EU budget will be the main topic of the EU summit which will be held in Brussels on Friday. The leaders of the 27 member states have to deal with the annual gap that UK will leave after Brexit occurs ensuring that the priorities set for the Union will be adequately funded. According to […]What will Germany look like after the next election?
January 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday this newspaper came out with a lead story about European countries having problems producing viable governments. The article was entitled “Minority governments ‘à la mode’ in Europe but can they last long?” It seems conformist Germany answers this question in the negative. According to an opinion poll published this week and reported by […]How a possible EU budget deficit affects the migration crisis
January 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The migration crisis has been long plaguing Europe but the year passed revealed that the situation is getting better and better with arrivals and deaths to be decreased to a great extent. According to IOM, the UN Migration Agency, 171.635 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea during 2017 compared to the 363.504 arrivals in […]Minority governments ‘à la mode’ in Europe but can they last long?
January 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
With the Italian elections set for 4 March and anticipated to produce a hang parliament, four out of the five bigger European countries will be in political limbo for a good part, if not for the entire new year 2018. France is the only exception in this Euro-plague of political uncertainty. In some cases the […]Draghi keeps the euro cheap, helps debt refinancing, recapitalization of banks and growth
December 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday, the European Central Bank decided to keep flooding the Eurozone with hundreds of billions, despite strong objections coming from the frugal German-Dutch duo. Mario Draghi was adamant about that. It’s interesting to follow his response to a journalist’s remark, who reminded him that the “Dutch Central Bank President Klaas Knot said in a […]Do the giant banks ‘tell’ Britain to choose a good soft Brexit and ‘remain’ or else…?
November 20, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It may be true that the world is tired watching Britain being completely confused about choosing the way to exit from the European Union. Yet, the almost schizo division plaguing the Brits and their political elites alike still paralyzes to this date the divorce negotiations. Countries to be most affected by Brexit like Holland are […]EU Trust Fund for Africa: Can it be beneficial for Italy and tackle the migration crisis in the Mediterranean?
October 25, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It was last week when the EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss how to support Italy with managing the refugees’ crisis in the central Mediterranean. The increase of the financial aid in the Trust Fund for Africa is believed to be one of the main ways to deal with this long-lasting issue. However, this […]
