European stock indicators dropped at the beginning of the week as investors shifted their focus to Italy and its budget project again.

The Stoxx Europe 600, the index of the major companies in the region, slipped by 0.56% and appeared at 374.3.

The UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 went down by 0.42% since the market opening, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX dropped by 0.73%. Spanish IBEX 35 lost 0.49% and Italian FTSE MIB fell 2.2%.

The European Commission members Valdis Dombrovskis and Pierre Moscovici addressed the letter to Italy’s Finance Minister Giovanni Tria saying that the country’s budget plan considering deficit to be 2.4% of GDP was significantly different from the previous strategy.

Meanwhile, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini denied such criticism claiming that the main enemy of Europe was the commitment to austerity measures demonstrated by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner chief for Pierre Moscovici.

“The Italians are continuing to test the EU’s resolve,” said Jens Peter Sorensen, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S. “If neither the EU or Italy back down, yields will continue to climb higher from here. But I expect that Italy and the EU will find a compromise, even though it looks difficult at the moment.”