
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in turn blamed the EU for strangling his country’s economy, saying: “Spending that saves lives, jobs and the right to health must not be part of rigid calculations and of rules imposed by Europe.”
Yesterday he stepped up his attack, saying Italy needed to be free to spend public money without the “folly” of EU constraints.
But the European Commission hit back saying it had lavished cash on Italian infrastructure.
President Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokesman Christian Spahr said that in April of this year 8.5 billion euros (£7.6billion) was earmarked for Italian motorway maintenance – including work in the Genoa region.
EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger, tweeted: “It is very human to look for somebody to blame… Still, good to look at facts.”

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A state funeral for the dead is taking place today.
At least 39 people have been confirmed dead since the disaster on Tuesday.
A further 15 people remain in hospital, nine in a serious condition.