At EU summit, Italy will fight changes to Recovery Fund, minister says

ROME (Reuters) - Italy wants the European Union to approve with no key changes a new recovery fund worth 750 billion euros that aims to rebuild the southern economies hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Friday.

"It is crucial to close EU negotiations over the recovery fund as soon as possible, if possible already in this European council," he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Italy will fight to ensure no modification to the overall amount, the breakdown between grants and loans and the structure of the fund, Gualtieri added.

"We will fight hard not to modify these elements," he said. "There are also some critical points in that proposal on which we will be very determined."

(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)