Rejection of ESM chance to make it more effective - Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 4 - Italy's decision not to ratify the reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the EU's bailout mechanism for states, is an opportunity to make it more effective, Premier Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.
    "The ESM is an instrument that has existed for a long time and I think that the markets' reaction (to the decision not to ratify the reform treaty, ed. ) reflects an awareness of the fact that it is obsolete," Meloni told reporters at her end-of-year press conference in Rome.
    "Perhaps Italy's failure to ratify (the ESM) can become an opportunity to transform it into something more effective," she added, reiterating that the government "deferred to the House" on the matter. (ANSA).