Renzi to ask for EU funds to be outside Stability Pact

Premier says Europe must change to survive

(ANSA) - Rome, March 20 - Italian Premier Matteo Renzi will request Thursday that European Union structural funds be placed outside the budget restrictions imposed by the Growth and Stability Pact, Emilia-Romagna Governor Vasco Errani said. Errani, who is also the president of the conference of Italian regional governments, was speaking following a meeting with Renzi's executive before the premier flies to Brussels for a summit of EU leaders in Brussels. "The government will raise the issue in Brussels, like the previous executive (of Enrico Letta) did," Errani said. "We'll see what the outcome is".
Renzi, who became Italy's youngest premier at 39 after unseating his Democratic Party (PD) colleague Letta, has vowed Italy will not breach the EU's deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3% even though he considers the rule outdated.
He has also said the EU must change and be more than a severe teacher that checks if the member states have done their "homework", otherwise populist, Eurosceptic parties will gain momentum.