Italy backs down in its budget standoff with the E.U.
2018-12-19 16:08:55 source：The Washington Post
December 19, 2018
ROME — The populist Italian government’s first experiment in challenging Europe appeared to near its conclusion Tuesday with reports of the most conventional of outcomes: an agreement with Brussels bureaucrats.
Just weeks ago, Italy’s leaders were saying they would not compromise in their battle with the European Union over the country’s budget-stretching spending plans.
One coalition party leader, Luigi Di Maio, said the government would “not backtrack by a millimeter.” The other party leader, Matteo Salvini, said Italy wouldn’t “be a servant” to European rules. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was just as direct. “There isn’t any Plan B,” he said in one interview.
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