While the European Union tries its best to destroy the United Kingdom for daring to leave, the Italians also seem to be embarking on a course designed to lead them into serious conflict with their masters in Brussels.
Defying the European Commission, the government in Rome has decided to stick to its published budget plans even though they've been threatened with punitive action by those who rule the EU. Italy has long had fiscal and monetary problems and has been the recipient of EU largesse in the past in return for cutting spending, but this time they seem to have had enough. The Italian government has determined, against instructions from Brussels, to go ahead with a plan which, according to the EU, threatens to lead to even higher national debt and, consequently, a further decline in financial stability. From the Italian side, the deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, has said that targets for the deficit at 2.4% and growth at 1.5% are necessary and will be pursued.
Once again, the EU is in conflict with one of its major economies. At the bottom of the issue is the irreconcilable imbalance between sovereign nations and a federalist Union which demands adherence to centrally determined policies which support a centralised financial system. Whether or not this current crisis leads to any changes within the European Union, those changes have to come eventually. Either there must be a single European super state or the bloc must take a step back and relax its control over its member.
My money's on a break up though when it will come is another question.
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