Mr di Maio’s Five Star Movement (M5S) repeatedly expressed frustration towards the European Union, calling for reforms in exchange for Italy’s large contributions to the EU budget.
An M5S victory could be a source of shock and friction for the European Union, depending on how big of a victory it is.
The young party leader said: “Every year we send a two-digit million sum to the EU and always get less back.
“I don’t think Italy has to pay more to Europe. I think the EU have to give more to Italy. We want to shape the EU. We want more flexibility on Eurozone deficit targets.”
In 2017 Italy gave Brussels nearly €14.23billion in exchange for €12.34bn used to maintain the country’s agriculture.
In perfect sync with his party line, Mr Di Maio is planning to run on a manifesto promising a swift reform of the overly-bureaucratic Italian legislative system.
The changes suggested include a renegotiation of Italy’s relationship with the European Union, which is plagued with defects and in need of modernisation, according to Mr Di Maio.
He said: “We want to change the EU, we want to modify a series of treaties, rules that don’t work.
“The monetary union has many defects. Before letting Italians decide whether they want out or not we need to rectify these defects. In its first year, an M5S government will focus on EU negotiations to try to bring together all European leaders that have become critical of the rules of the game.”
Tomorrow Italians will head to the polls to cast their ballots for the 945 member Parliament, between 7am and 11pm local time (6am and 11pm GMT).
Under Italian law, publishing opinion polls in the penultimate two weeks of the electoral campaign is outlawed, but the last batch of polls paints a pretty clear picture of how the vote will go down.
Since the start of polling back in January 2018, the M5S has been a clear favourite to be the single biggest party in Parliament, followed by the ruling Democratic Party (PD).
A February 15 poll by Demopolis indicates a 28 percent vote for the M5S, a 22.5 percent vote for PD and 16.5 for the centre-right coalition led by former PM Silvio Berlusconi.