The high level of national public debt in Italy represents an impediment to the Italian economy and an element of risk for the stability of the euro area as a whole. This fiscal fragility also prevents Italy from playing a more active role in the determination of the new European rules currently being debated. Italy’s lack of stability was and continues to be particularly noticeable when, at the beginning of 2018, the more stable euro-area partners, France and Germany, were beginning to work on the redesign of European common governance while paying special attention to the specific risks represented by Italy and its high public debt. This document contains a proposal to address the problem of the high Italian public debt by changing the way fiscal rules are applied in the euro area.

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