'Catastrophic' if Monti falls says Berlusconi Ex-PM 'would like to be economy minister' if wins 2013 election

(ANSA) - Rome, June 26 - European Union authorities believe it would be "catastrophic" for Italy if Premier Mario Monti were to fall, his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi told members of his centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) party Tuesday."I have spoken with Brussels, they say Monti's fall would be 'catastrophique'," Berlusconi said, urging the PdL members to moderate their language even though "75% of our electorate are against Monti" because of his austerity policies.Berlusconi ruled out pulling the PdL's support from Monti, saying the resulting "crisis would create consternation" among Italy's partners and on the financial markets where Italy has to service its huge debt, ahead of a crunch EU summit this week where Monti will be seeking pro-growth and debt-spreading concessions the PdL is insisting on.The PdL is the largest party in parliament and backs Monti along with its slightly smaller centre-left rival, the Democratic Party (PD), which polls say is Italy's most popular party. The PD had a 10-point lead over the PdL in most polls until the PdL started rallying on anti-Monti and anti-euro rhetoric.Now that Monti has secured the Pdl and PD's support for a labour reform demanded by Brussels, Berlusconi said the premier had a mandate to "negotiate with a vengeance" in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.In other remarks, Berlusconi said that he wants to be economy minister if the PdL wins next year's elections in a government headed by party Secretary Angelino Alfano.The media magnate told PdL MPs he would not stand to be premier again after resigning as the head of government in November to make way for Montìs emergency administration of technocrats.Berlusconi also said it would not be bad for Europe if Germany were to leave the eurozone.Monti, for his part, said the summit talks would be "very tough" and the backing of the Italian parliament was essential for him.He agreed with Berlusconi who had said earlier that the situation was "absolutely indeterminate" ahead of the summit.