EU must be values not restrictions says Renzi

(ANSA) - Milan, February 24 - The EU must represent values rather than demanding restrictions, Premier Matteo Renzi said Wednesday. "The future that awaits us is not one of restrictions but one of values and ideals: the EU is that, or it is no more," he said in Milan. "The government has been accused of playing the optimist and issuing propaganda, but that is false. Italy has extraordinary resources," he said. Renzi has long been urging the EU to loosen budgetary parameters and do more to stoke growth.