Renzi says has 'no quarrel' with EC

(supersedes previous)(ANSA) - Latina, November 7 - Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday he has no quarrel with the European Commission over the Italian budget.
    "Juncker says I'm being quarrelsome," Renzi said.
    "Respecting the rules is one thing, the possibility of those rules obstructing the stability of our children's schools is quite another... We will allocate that money outside the (EU) Stability (and Growth) Pact, whether Brussels officials like it or not". The premier added that Italy's budget would be in better shape if European Union officials made sure an EU deal on asylum seeker relocation and resettlement were respected. "If Brussels officials want us to spend less, (let them make sure) commitments made on migrants are respected," Renzi said. "They'll see Italy's budget will improve".
    Juncker earlier on Monday chided Italy on its draft budget, saying its projected 2017 deficit is overblown compared to its emergency spending on refugees and post-quake relief and reconstruction. Additional spending on quake relief and on asylum seekers is worth 0.1% of GDP, but Italy has raised its projected 2017 deficit from 2.4% after it pledged one at 1.7%, Juncker said. Italy is in no position to state that the EC is carrying on austerity policies from the past, he added. "If it wants to say so it can, but actually I don't care," the EC chief said. "Today, in 2016, Italy has the leeway to spend an additional 19 billion euros, which it would not have been able to spend had I not reformed the (EU) Stability (and Growth) Pact in the direction of flexibility," Juncker told a meeting of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). "I believe wisdom calls for us to take earthquake and refugee costs into account... in Italy," Juncker said. "But the additional costs of migrant and earthquake policies in Italy are worth 0.1% of GDP, while Italy had promised a deficit target of 1.7% in 2017 and now it is proposing a 2.4% deficit due to the earthquake and the refugees," the EC chief said. He added that Italy's attacks on the EU over its draft budget are unfair and counterproductive. "The Commission I preside over has introduced elements of flexibility into the interpretation of the (EU Growth and) Stability Pact, to the benefit of a certain number of member states," Juncker said. "I would take the example of Italy, because (it) won't stop unfairly attacking the Commission, and this won't produce the expected results".