Define budget by August Salvini tells un

(ANSA) - Rome, July 15 - Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told the big three trade unions and employers' groups Monday that the government wanted to define next year's budget bill by August and was keen to get their input.
    "We want the budget to be brought forward a lot, we want to define its (main) points between July and August and we want to accept your suggestions," he told CGIL, CISL and UIL and employers including Confindustria, Confartigianato, Confedilizia, Legacoop, Confcooperative and Ania, as well as Italiuan Bankign Association ABI Salvini also said Monday's talks would be the start of a series of encounters with the so-called 'social partners'.
    "It's the start of a process," he said, while stressing "we don't want to stand in for the premier".
    He announced a new round of talks within a fortnight, or in any case before the end of the summer, union and employer sources said.
    The government wants to frame a budget that will stick to EU rules while finding the cash to pass a 15% flat tax.
    At the meeting with unions and employers, League economic pointman Armando Siri said the flat tax would benefit 20 million households and 40 million taxpayers.
    Premier Giuseppe Conte said Salvini had committed an "institutional foul" by discussing budget issues with unions and employers.
    As for the presence of Siri, who stepped down as economy undersecretary amid a probe into alleged corruption by a Sicilian wind farm king linked to Cosa Nostra's No 1 fugitive, Conte said "if it was a party summit it is OK, but if it was a government summit, it's not Ok".