Renzi govt sets out vision for stronger Europe

(ANSA) - Rome, February 22 - The Italian government on Monday set out its vision for Europe in a nine-page position paper titled Italy's Strategic Proposal for the Future of the European Union: Growth, Jobs, and Stability.
    The document moots the ideas of transforming the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a "European Monetary Fund", and gives its backing to the creation of a "eurozone super finance minister" as proposed by the French and German central banks. It goes on to call for "a joint, shared policy" to deal with the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis and for joint management of external EU borders, both of which could be financed by issuing EU bonds - an idea Germany has never been partial to.
    The Schengen Agreement "is one of the most important results achieved" in the process of European integration and "must be preserved and strengthened", the paper said.
    On the economic front, Italy called for any budget leeway to be "integrally used to support growth" during the current phase of modest recovery and exceptionally low inflation. The European Central Bank's monetary expansion policies have proven "insufficient" to ensure proper economy recovery, the Italian position paper said.
    Accordingly, the EU should promote budget policies that foster growth, reforms, and job creation. "Economic union is a multi-dimensional project...which should go hand in hand with measures for growth and employment," the paper said.
    "This would prove to citizens that Europe is the solution not the problem" in the face of a rising tide of populism in almost every member State, the position paper said.
    Renzi said Monday that his criticism of the EU was aimed at contributing to real change of the bloc and not to win concessions for Italy. He also announced he will attend a nuclear summit in Washington at the end of March after visits to Illinois, Nevada and Massachusetts, a visit to Tehran in April, and that he has accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend an economic forum in St Petersburg on June 18.