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Budget will stay the same vows Renzi (2)

We speak to citizens not EU technocrats says Italy premier

Redazione Ansa

(supersedes previous)(ANSA) - Rome, October 21 - The Italian government is willing to listen to EU assessments of its budget but the bill will stay the way it is, Premier Matteo Renzi said Friday. "The budget bill won't change," he told private RTL 102.5 FM radio.
    "If the EU has observations we'll listen, but this budget has the lowest deficit in the past 10 years. We're making efforts and we want to send a message to taxpayers not to technocracies in Brussels".
    The 2017 budget allocates an extra two billion euros to the national health service, a measure that is neither left- nor right-wing, the premier said.
    "The budget is about concrete issues, and that will not change," he said.
    The Italian premier also denied his administration is giving amnesties to tax dodgers. "Those who got fined must pay," he said. "To those who accuse the government of giving amnesties or aiding tax evaders, I say that in 2015 we obtained the best result of the past 60 years: we recovered over 14 billion euros thanks to the fight against tax evasion. Such charges have absolutely no connection with reality".
    Renzi added the government is scrapping tax collection agency Equitalia, which must no longer act as "a killer" and in a "punitive" manner but rather as an advisor to taxpayers. The premier also commented on yesterday's court decision nixing an appeal on the wording of the yes/no question on a December 4 referendum on his constitutional reform law, which reform opponents said was phrased in a misleading way. "The referendum question has been officially approved, because the illustrious professors on the 'No' committee appealed to the Lazio regional administrative court (TAR) and they lost," Renzi said.
    "Let us now enter into the merit (of the reform) - this referendum is not about me, nor about the government".
    The Italian premier initially staked his political future on the outcome of the referendum, but has since backed down from that stance.
   

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