Boldrini praises migration compact

(ANSA) - Rome, May 30 - 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.