Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday called for the rapid activation of the European Union's 750 billion euro stimulus package to speed the bloc's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have the responsibility and the moral duty to get the recovery fund going as soon as possible," Di Maio told the 17th Italy-Spain Forum for Dialogue.
The fund must be used to benefit current and future generations and to build greater resilience in Europe to weather future crises, Di Maio said.
Italy is set to receive 209 billion euros in grants and low-interest loans from the EU recovery fund by 2023 - the biggest share of any member state.
The EU will raise the money on international markets and states must spend it on priority areas such as the green economy, infrastructure, jobs, education and administrative reforms.
"The EU is finding a new unity and Italy is playing its role within the bloc much better than previously," Di Maio said in an apparent reference to the eurosceptic coalition government formed after the inconclusive national elections of March 2018.
