国际英语资讯:Italys new cabinet starts mission after winning confidence vote in Senate_时事

国际英语资讯:Italys new cabinet starts mission after winning confidence vote in Senate

ROME, Dec.14 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government of newly-appointed Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni cleared a Senate confidence vote on Wednesday with 169 in favor.

Gentiloni thus won his second and final test after winning the confidence of the lower house on Tuesday for his "government of responsibility".

Another 99 members of the 315-seat Senate voted against, with the opposition calling for snap elections and protesting that the new government is a "carbon copy" of Matteo Renzi, who quit as prime minister after losing a December 4 referendum on constitutional reform.

国际英语资讯:Italys new cabinet starts mission after winning confidence vote in Senate1

The new government was put together in record time to enable Gentiloni to attend an EU summit on Thursday, where Italy's 2017 budget is likely to be on the agenda. The new prime minister is also expected to carry on the battle waged by his predecessor Renzi for more flexibility, given that the country is engaged in massive relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of two devastating earthquakes that caused billions in damage in central Italy in August and October.

Italy is also jockeying for budget flexibility.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament on Wednesday that Italy's spending on the refugee crisis "cannot come under the EU Growth and Stability Pact."

"What Italy does -- and it does a lot -- must not lead to negative consequences in budget terms," Juncker told MEPs. "There are serious problems in the Mediterranean, and we cannot leave Italy on its own".