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M. Continuo

EU's Barroso says Italy elections must not stop reform drive


    ROME (Reuters) - Early elections in Italy must not call into question the economic reform agenda of Prime Minister Mario Monti because the risk of financial crisis has still not been dispelled, the head of the European Commission said in an interview on Sunday.

    "The next elections must not serve as a pretext for putting in doubt how indispensable these measures are," Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso told business daily Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview published a day after Monti announced that he would resign early.

    "The relative calm on the markets does not mean we are out of the crisis," he said.

    (Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Barry Moody)