Roundup: Italy's new cabinet starts mission after winning confidence vote in Senate

The Italian government of newly-appointed Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni cleared a Senate confidence vote on Wednesday with 169 in favor.

Gentiloni thus won his second and final test after winning the confidence of the lower house on Tuesday for his "government of responsibility".

Another 99 members of the 315-seat Senate voted against, with the opposition calling for snap elections and protesting that the new government is a "carbon copy" of Matteo Renzi, who quit as prime minister after losing a December 4 referendum on constitutional reform.

The new government was put together in record time to enable Gentiloni to attend an EU summit on Thursday, where Italy's 2017 budget is likely to be on the agenda. The new prime minister is also expected to carry on the battle waged by his predecessor Renzi for more flexibility, given that the country is engaged in massive relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of two devastating earthquakes that caused billions in damage in central Italy in August and October.

Italy is also jockeying for budget flexibility.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament on Wednesday that Italy's spending on the refugee crisis "cannot come under the EU Growth and Stability Pact."

"What Italy does -- and it does a lot -- must not lead to negative consequences in budget terms," Juncker told MEPs. "There are serious problems in the Mediterranean, and we cannot leave Italy on its own".

In a speech to the Senate prior to the vote, Gentiloni reiterated that his new government's first task will be to complete Renzi's reforms.

"Above all, (this government) must complete the exceptional work of reform, innovation and modernization carried out in the last few years," he said.

Framing a new electoral law is urgent, independently of when the next election is held, and the parliament's decisions on this score will reshape the country, Gentiloni said.

The new prime minister said there is an urgent need for "harmonized" election rules for both houses of parliament, and that the new rules are "not a valve to be opened or closed according to the urgency or not of the electoral date."

"Undoubtedly the evolution of the system as we have known it in recent years is at stake," he told MPs. "When you debate the new election rules... (you) will affect the way we conceive of the functioning of our democracy."

Gentiloni added that his government will contribute to the debate but will not be center stage.

"Our job will be to facilitate the search for a solution and also to solicit (a response from) political forces," he explained.

The prime minister also reiterated that his administration's No.1 priority is employment. "Making (job) protections universal must be our goal," the center-left prime minister said. "Unfortunately this can't be resolved with easy slogans."

He also urged opposition parties boycotting the vote to "respect parliament and to take part in its meetings in a civilized way."

Gentiloni further denied his government is indifferent to the results of the December 4 referendum, as opposition lawmakers claim.

"I believe it has been made very clear to the Italian people that this is not so," he told the Senate. Enditem