ROME: Italy wants a change in European “mentality” and not looser budget rules, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, adding that he would propose an ambitious agenda for when Rome assumes the rotating European Union presidency next month.
“We are not asking for a revision or relaxation of the accords” on budget matters, Renzi said in a statement.
“Instead we want a change in mentality, a leap forward for the entire EU as a reply to the anxiety and the challenges that Europe is facing,” he said.
Italy has called for flexibility in European budget rules to encourage economic growth and jobs, in a switch away from the austerity imposed after the eurozone debt crisis, a position that gathered momentum at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg.
The 39-year-old Renzi took office in February after pushing aside a party rival, promising a broad series of reforms including several aimed at turning around Italy’s perennially sluggish economy, the eurozone’s third-biggest, which is also saddled with a €2-trillion debt.
Renzi has so far held out on expressing support for former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is backed by Germany and opposed by Britain to become the next European Commission president, as he pushes for a broad agreement on more budget flexibility.
Reuters
