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The European Commission said last week that Italy's growing public debt broke EU rules, opening the way for a possible disciplinary procedure and a clash with Rome's anti-austerity government.
"No one should be in doubt that we will apply those rules if the criteria are not fulfilled," Moscovici told a news conference.
"So now clearly the ball is in Italy's court.
We need to see a credible path for 2019 as well as 2020.
We stand ready to take into account any new elements that Italy may put forward, but let's not waste time," he said.