Premier Paolo Gentiloni said
Wednesday that his government was doing its bit to tackle
Italy's structural economic weakness and would not accept
lectures at the EU level.
He also called on the European Union to take action to tackle
the asylum-seeker crisis, stressing that it cannot hope for
Merlin to solve it for the bloc.
"The government's activity is concentrated on a series of
measures, from immigration to the civil service, criminal
justice, urban safety, a law on poverty and a law on
competition," Gentiloni told the Senate ahead of this week's
European Union summit.
"I challenge anyone to point to another parliament in Europe
that is working on a package of reforms like those in Italy. "We
are top of the class and we don't accept lessons. We are working
for the common interest...
"It should be clear in Brussels right away that, not only
have the reforms not stopped, they have not slowed in the
slightest".
Former foreign minister Gentiloni took over as premier in
December when his Democratic Party (PD) colleague Matteo Renzi
quit after his flagship Constitutional reform was rejected in a
referendum.
Gentiloni reiterated that Italy found it unacceptable that
the European Union is strict when it comes to applying budget
rules but lax on implementing commitments to share the burden of
the asylum seeker crisis.
"Not even Merlin the wizard would be able to make the
immigration problem disappear," he said.
"But it is possible to substitute illegal, deadly migration
with (legal) flows and channels for migrants," he added.
"This is the aim of the EU and I hope that Brussels takes
steps forward to help the cutting-edge work of Italy"
Gentiloni told the Senate Rome would not accept EU rigidity
that went down to decimals of a percentage point on budget rules
while there was "distracted rigidity" on migration issues.
He added added that solidarity on asylum seekers was a EU
decision, not an Italian "demand".
The Italian government is currently working to deliver a
budget deficit adjustment of 0.2% of GDP to stop the European
Commission opening infringement procedures.
Gentiloni added that his government was in favour of a
European Union that moves forward on integration at various
speeds.
"We are in favour of considering the path of integration with
differentiated levels," Gentiloni told the Senate as he reported
to parliament before this week's EU summit.
"This is an acknowledgment of the state of things. Europe
must move towards greater integration. This prospect is very
difficult to achieve in a Europe of 28 States".
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