Latest figures released this week from the European Commission earlier this week predicted Italy will once again breach European Union deficit rules next year, setting Rome and Brussels on a collision course for the next budget. The Southern European country and top Eurocrats have been engaged in a long battle of wills over the dire economic conditions Italy is in, with the populist Government vocally opposing the oversight of the EU. But eurozone expert Eleonora Poli suggested Brussels will avoid putting pressure on the strategic member state to protect the monetary union.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Dr Poli said: "What would happen in the case of another recession would certainly affect other member countries because other member countries’ banks or companies already invested in Italy.
"Many people have already said Italy is too big to fail but also too big to be saved. It’s not Greece, it’s not Spain, we are still one of the biggest economies in the eurozone.
"There is no interest, not even in other European countries, for Italy to fail because this would imply economic losses in many other countries and many other foreign companies."
The Italian deficit is expected to balloon to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), well over the 3 percent limit imposed by the EU. The European Commission also expects the country, the third-largest economy in the eurozone, to have the slowest economic growth in 2020.
READ MORE: EU CRISIS: Italy to provoke major Brussels clash for HUGE breach of Euro budget rules
