Italy's outgoing premier Mario Monti on Thursday defended the European Union and his austerity record, days after he was defeated in elections.
"In the case of Italy, ... there was no choice but to put in place at the same time a tough deficit containment strategy and a strategy of domestic structural reforms," Monti told the European Competition Forum in Brussels.
"It's ludicrous to blame the EU level and then be candidly surprised if the acceptance of the EU goes down and down. This, I think, is simply a matter of honesty," he added. "There is a huge problem of visibility of the goodness of the right policies."
The former EU competition commissioner said he was among the "most fervent supporters ... of budgetary discipline," and noted he had never considered asking the EU for a postponement of deficit goals "in spite of very, very tough conditions."
Monti and EU President Herman Van Rompuy in a joint statement said "the structural reforms implemented so far in Italy have helped to restore market confidence and its international credibility."
"If continued, they will significantly raise Italy's growth potential... Italy has also put its public finances on a sounder footing, which is an essential condition to ensure growth."
Monti's political opponents have advocated against austerity policies, which have proven increasingly unpopular among voters. Monti said part of the problem lies in the fact that the positive effects are not always immediately evident.
"If the gains from virtue are not seen, the insistence on virtue may be short-lived," he said.
"There is an accompanying ... strategy at the EU level that needs to be pursued unless we want or unless we passively allow that understandably the most simplistic, some would say populistic ... forces tend to have the EU policies derail." dpa alv amh bve Author: Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl