Italy wants to keep playing an increasingly central role in the European Union, which like NATO it continues to view as "a lodestar" for its policy choices, foreign minister Antonio Tajani stated on Wednesday.
"The European Union and the Atlantic Alliance continue to be the lodestars for Italy and the government," Tajani told MPs during question time.
Italy does not only want to "remain in Europe" but as a founding member of the EU and its second largest manufacturer "wants to keep playing a leading role," Tajani said.
"Due to Italy's sound foreign and economic policy, it is listened to more and more in Brussels...we have achieved important results from packaging to green homes and cars," Tajani claimed.
Italy has guided Europe towards "pragmatic, non-ideological positions that are closer to real economic needs and to citizens and "far from extremism", he argued.
"We have, for example, put migration back at the centre of the debate. It is a crucial issue not only for our national interest, but for the whole of Europe. The same goes for the Mediterranean, said Tajani.
Italy wants Europe to focus more on "big issues" and "efficient and democratic institutions" with less emphasis on "bureacratic details" he said.
"And we want an economic governance that does not sacrifice growth in the name of austerity", Tajani conlcluded.
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