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Italy’s Conte Sets Out Pro-Europe Course, Wins Confidence Vote

  • Premier lays out government plans in rowdy parliament session
  • Conte pledges to work closely with new European Commission
Giuseppe Conte on Sept. 9.

Giuseppe Conte on Sept. 9.

Photographer: Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images

Updated on

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte won the first of two confidence votes in parliament after pledging to draw a line under Italy’s past clashes with the European Union and vowing to work closely with Brussels on a 2020 budget featuring lower labor taxes and a minimum wage.

The Florence law professor, 55, who described himself as “the people’s lawyer” when he first took office as premier last year, is seeking parliamentary approval for his new government. With the confidence-measure victory in the lower house Monday, all that remains is a vote in the Senate on Tuesday.