ROME (Reuters) -Italy could use its veto to prevent the adoption of the European Union's new fiscal rules if the outcome of negotiations among partners does not meet its demands, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday. The bloc's Stability and Growth pact was suspended in 2020 due to COVID-19 and is due to return in an amended version next year, with Italy pushing to make it more lenient as opposed to demands from other members to enforce tough discipline. "I am not ruling out any of the options, I think we have to assess what is best for Italy," Meloni told the upper house in a speech ahead of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Dec. 14-15.
According to new research, molecular and genomics analysis of swabs used in Pap tests could allow for the detection of ovarian cancer years in advance of symptoms onset.
EU finance ministers will try to hammer out an agreement over dinner on Thursday to reform bloc-wide spending rules after months of bitter divisions, especially between France and Germany.France and Germany, the EU's two economic powerhouses have been at loggerheads over the reform in the past few months.
The recent calm in bond markets of the most indebted euro zone nations could quickly flip to turmoil in 2024 if investors already nervous about debt sustainability and high interest rates are spooked by more rigid post-pandemic budget rules. Analysts believe Germany's budget crisis will mean tougher fiscal policy in the largest euro zone economy in 2024, which could add to pressure on less wealthy members of the bloc to keep a tighter grip on their finances. That could reverse a trend that has seen the premium investors demand to buy bonds of euro zone governments over benchmark Germany shrink more this year for indebted economies like Italy than it has for the "core" of wealthier countries.