The great switcheroo: How France overtook Italy as the EU’s No. 1 budgetary basket case  – POLITICO

ROME/PARIS — As budget talks swing into full gear in two of Europe’s most important countries, a monumental shift is taking place under the hood of the EU economy. 

Italy, long viewed as a nation of tax evaders and overspenders, is now seen as dutifully thrifty by Brussels technocrats poring over the latest data. Its economy appears — at least in some respects — to be emerging from decades of stagnation, while the tax intake is ticking up and its politics are — at least by Rome’s own standards — stable. 

In France it’s a different story. Once so influential in Brussels it could ignore even the most panicked calls for fiscal restraint, Paris is now looking vulnerable. Months of political uncertainty have left a fragile coalition at the helm of government, and new Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces resistance to his plans to push through some €60 billion in draconian spending cuts and tax hikes.