LUXEMBOURG: Eurozone finance ministers urged Italy on Thursday to rethink its budget and avoid a painful row with Brussels that could endanger the European economy as a whole.
"I would like Italy to take the hand extended by the commission and implement the appropriate measures," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire as he arrived for talks with his eurozone counterparts in Luxembourg.
Italy's debt ratio, at 132 percent of gross domestic product, is the second biggest in the eurozone after Greece.
This is way above the 60 percent EU ceiling, with the commission convinced that the debt will keep ramping up, leaving Italy vulnerable to economic shocks that could spill over to the rest of Europe.
"There are rules in the eurozone, we all try to respect them," added Le Maire, whose country has also fallen foul of EU budget rules in recent years.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, last week formally put populist-led Italy on notice for blowing belt-tightening commitments.
The process, known as an excessive deficit procedure, could lead to billions in fines, though this remains unprecedented and highly unlikely.
"In the end the rules are not just something which is written on paper, they have reasons," said German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
But Italy's far right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has vowed not to yield to the EU and press on with tax cuts and extra spending.
Economics affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici, who is the EU point person in the row, said his door was open to Rome and hoped for new proposals.
"I am in listening mode because while the door is open, we also want new elements to go through it," he said.
Moscovici and commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis were set to meet with Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria on the sidelines in Luxembourg.
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