Italian cooperation in service of this goal." The German government said it would not comment on the Italian elections on Tuesday and it expected to make its first statement on Wednesday morning. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who was also attending the meeting in Strasbourg, told Reuters that a Prodi victory heralded a strongly pro-European stand in Rome. "I hope -- in fact I'm convinced -- that Italy's policies will be very openly pro-European, notably because of the personality of Mr Prodi," he said. "He was the prime minister who brought Italy into the euro zone ... I think he's going to continue along these lines. I met him 10 days ago and we agreed on the essential European issues," Juncker said. European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia struck a reminder of the tough work ahead for the new government after the previous administration largely failed to overhaul the economy and pushed up the country's budget deficit. Almunia issued a statement calling for quick moves on structural reforms and adherence to a plan agreed by Berlusconi's government with the EU to bring the budget deficit under a ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2007. "The task is a difficult one but it is necessary and urgent to guarantee an improvement in living standards and employment of Italian citizens," Almunia said, adding he was confident cooperation between Brussels and Rome would continue to be good.
