Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini
said Monday Premier Matteo Renzi's proposed EU migration compact
is a good place to start. "The migration compact is a good basis
to deal with the problem in a structural way, especially the
issue of economic development," Boldrini told reporters. The
compact would help 16 African countries - beginning with Egypt,
Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia - to
boost their economies and encourage would-be migrants to stay at
home. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said
earlier this month the compact "is in line with the agenda that
the EC has had for many months". German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said she backed the project but was against Renzi's idea of
funding it with new 'eurobonds'. She said that, instead, the
money should be taken from the existing EU budget for
development aid, boosted by a budget flexibility clause in
the EU's Stability and Growth Pact.
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