Italian PM asks Britain to stay in EU

Visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has asked Britain to remain in the European Union (EU), saying its presence is "crucial" and "not questionable."

"Clearly, there is no great Europe without the presence of the United Kingdom," and the British presence in Europe was "not simply a tradition" but also "for the future of Europe," a press transcript released by Downing Street on Wednesday quoted Renzi as saying.

The Italian prime minister, who met British counterpart David Cameron during his visit here Tuesday, also highlighted the need of EU reforms to fight bureaucracy and "red tape" in Brussels.

"Europe, this is my personal opinion, lost the quality of the dream, and became only a place of bureaucracy and of red tape," the transcript quoted Renzi as saying at a joint media conference.

• While both leaders asserted that Italy and Britain could be "allies" in reforming the EU, the Italian prime minister expressed his preference for solving his country's domestic problems first.

• "For us, it's possible to speak about reforms in Europe only if ... we change ourselves, and this is the challenge in the second half of 2014, when Italy will lead the semester of European presidency," Renzi said.

Cameron has pledged to hold an in-or-out referendum on the fate of Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017, if his Conservative Party wins the next general election. Voices demanding Britain leave have persisted since it joined the bloc. 
[globaltimes.cn]
3/4/14