Italy’s lower house of parliament has given its full backing to the government of new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.<br /><br />In his maiden address to the Chamber of Deputies, the 39-year-old said radical steps were needed to revive an economy that’s barely grown over the past 15 years.<br /><br />His speech was similar in style and substance to the one he gave to the Senate. But he spelled out that a promised “double digit” reduction in labour taxes this year meant a cut of 10 billion euros, rather than 10 percent as had been widely interpreted and would have meant around a 30 billion euro cut.<br /><br />Renzi also devoted more attention to the European Union, saying Italy’s 6-month presidency of the region from July was “a gigantic opportunity” to establish a greater role for the country in shaping EU policy.<br /><br />However, his speech, which gave little details, was greeted coolly by the chamber, with little applause even from his parliamentary majority.<br /><br />Renzi won his first confidence vote in the upper house Senate on Monday.
