ROME — The Italian government wants to give Europe “a shake,” according to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, but he dismissed fights with other EU members as mere “misunderstandings.”

The prime minister, who never campaigned for office or ran in Italy's election, heads a populist coalition that has clashed with Brussels over its spending plans and with France over a range of issues from migration to transport links to the Yellow Jackets protest movement.

In an interview with POLITICO on Monday, the day before an address to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Conte said the spats have not damaged Italy's standing in Europe.

Italy is not “isolated,” the prime minister said, but rather has “not given up on expressing its opinions even when what it had to say was uncomfortable.”

Conte, a lawyer and professor at the University of Florence, was plucked from relative obscurity to lead the nation last June after the 5Star Movement and League formed a coalition government. Although both of those parties are, in different ways, Euroskeptic, Conte rejected the suggestion that the government is anti-European.

“Being anti-establishment and pursuing change doesn't mean being anti-EU. On the contrary, because we do care about Europe, we want it to become a Europe of the people, closer to the needs of the people,” he said.

“It's during moments of crisis that one must give things a shake, get back on one’s feet and restart" — Giuseppe Conte

The prime minister, who is far more popular than his predecessors, as well as Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, according to an Ipsos poll published mid-January, said the issue is reforming the EU in a way that works for everyone. “Some people say we wanted to challenge the EU, I say we actually want to give it a shake to revive it,” Conte said.

“It's during moments of crisis that one must give things a shake, get back on one’s feet and restart.”

Conte will appear in Parliament after meeting European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker earlier Tuesday, and said he will make it clear to MEPs "that we really need a different approach on immigration and on the EU’s economic and fiscal governance.”

“These topics must not be divisive among member states and the misunderstandings of the last few days represent the effect, rather than the cause, of the EU’s inability to suggest solutions. If we don’t address these needs and the change we’re experiencing, we risk collapsing the EU’s architecture,” he said.

One of the “misunderstandings” has turned into a full-fledged diplomatic crisis between Italy and France, with Paris recalling its ambassador to Rome after what it described as “repeated, baseless attacks” from the ruling Italian parties.

Conte said he hopes the relationship between the two countries "can be sorted out as soon as possible" and that a meeting between Di Maio and leaders of the Yellow Jackets movement, which escalated tensions with Emmanuel Macron's government, is not government business.

However, he said 5Star leader Di Maio's meeting "must be seen in the wider context of the debate and the turmoil concerning political movements."

Relations with France have been further complicated by a planned high-speed rail link between Turin and Lyon, which the French have started work on but which the 5Stars want to scrap, and a potential merger between shipyard giants STX of France and Italy's Fincantieri, which is being scrutinized by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager.

Conte said the future of the rail link depends on the results of a cost-and-benefit analysis, which will be made public on Tuesday, according to Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli, who called it a "very big disaster."

"We have planned billions of infrastructure investments in our budget, therefore a potential 'no' to [the rail link] ... would not represent a 'no' to infrastructure in general," Conte said.

As for the shipyards, "I believe the merger is virtuous and entirely compatible with EU competition rules. While respecting the evaluation prerogatives that belong to the European Commission, we expect the merger to be green-lighted because it is entirely legitimate."

Another cause for concern, for Italy and other European countries, is the Treaty of Aachen, a contract seeking to boost cooperation in areas such as foreign policy, defense, trade, mobility and research, which was signed by Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month.

“It's not a question of being worried, it's a question of coherence," Conte said. "If we continue to invoke a strong and supportive European project, but in fact there are countries that focus on consolidating already privileged bilateral relations, it's obvious there is a risk of altering the normal decision-making process among all member states ... we cannot allow the creation of a European Union with variable geometries," he warned.

Four years to go

The interview took place a day after a regional election in Abruzzo, in which the 5Stars finished third with just over 20 percent of the vote (a right-wing alliance, which includes the League, the Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia won 48 percent to finish first). That has led to speculation that the national coalition is coming under strain.

Conte didn't comment on the election, the final results of which weren't known at the time, but said the coalition is strong. "From the first day of this government I’ve heard the suggestion it would collapse but this has been contradicted by hard facts each time. The two political forces that make up this government might have, at times, different views but they have proved to have a single objective: improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of the country. The citizens’ income and the pensions overhaul are the most obvious examples. We have four years in government ahead of us, four years of change and structural reforms."

Conte's laid-back and diplomatic style has earned him friends among foreign leaders, many of who prefer to deal with the prime minister than Salvini or Di Maio. But he didn't hold back when stating that Italy wants to be part of a "new and bold European project, a truly inclusive and supportive one [and] while Italy is engaged in a positive and constructive dialogue with the Commission on a number of issues, including fiscal discipline and migration, it will work to change some rules that are old and outdated."

“We took a prudent approach in the budget. We are very confident our growth forecasts will materialize" — Giuseppe Conte

For months, Italy has been at odds with its EU partners over its budget, which will increase borrowing to fund measures such as a citizens’ income — a cash handout of up to €780 a month for jobseekers living in poverty — and a partial overhaul of the pension system. The latest economic data, published by the European Commission and Italy's national statistics office Istat, shows the country has entered a technical recession and the economy is forecast to grow by just 0.2 percent this year, lagging behind all other 27 member countries.

But Conte is confident things will work out: “We took a prudent approach in the budget. We are very confident our growth forecasts will materialize ... Growth will be supported by structural reforms aimed at unlocking investments and opening building sites."

The dysfunctional element of the equation, according to Conte, isn't the Italian government, it is "the EU's inability to listen to the needs of its citizens," which he said is the reason why there is a general sense of "disaffection" toward Brussels.