Taking on the European Commission's economic affairs portfolio will be "a big responsibility", economy commissioner designate and former Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni wrote on Facebook on Monday.
"Being economy commissioner will be a big responsibility," wrote Gentiloni.
"I will be guided by two principles - to build agreement within the College of Commissioners and to push for the European Parliament and the European Commission to play a key role together," said Gentiloni.
In an interview with La Stampa newspaper published on Monday in Italy's La Stampa newspaper, Gentiloni said the EU plans to introduce a tax on digital services should there be no global accord on a 'web tax'.
Gentiloni also said he would also oversee European efforts to harmonize corporate taxes across member states and review the bloc’s current regulation on energy taxation.
The EU needs "economic and budget policies that drive growth," Gentiloni told La Stampa, praising the European Central Bank’s monetary policy but saying that it was not enough to counter a slowdown .
In the interview, Gentiloni also vowed to fight climate change as well as social economic inequality and to reform current EU rules requiring migrants to claim asylum in the first country they arrive in - often Italy.
