MNI INTERVIEW: Lega To Ready Italy For Likely Euro Crisis-Spox

--If Lega Leads Government, Euro 'Contingency' To Be Put In Place-Spox

--Lega's Pre-Vote Softer Stances Dropped, Euro Reversibility "Big Lie"

--Italy Must Raise Its Voice On EU Stage: Lega Spokesman

By Silvia Marchetti

     ROME (MNI) - Italy's Lega will prepare the country for a possible euro

crisis if it leads the next government, a senior party figure told MNI in an

exclusive interview.

     Claudio Borghi, a newly-elected Lega Deputy in the Lower House, said the

notion of euro irreversibility was nonsense. This kind of monetary union, "where

there is no real transmission of policy benefits to member states, is fated to

collapse any minute".

     Lega, the centre-right party fresh from national electoral success, has

abandoned its more EU-friendly stance it adopted during the election campaign to

help lure less extremist voters, reversing back to its hard-core, traditional

anti-European position.

     --EURO REVERSABILITY

     "We have all been made to believe that the euro is everlasting. But this is

a huge, unacceptable lie that needs be unmasked once and for all," said Borghi,

the party's economic adviser and leading light on all eurozone issues.

     "The euro is fated to die, we need to acknowledge this. That's why we will

put in place an adequate safety-net to avoid negative repercussions were the

euro to really face a crisis," Borghi said, arguing that such a contingency plan

should already be available. 

     "I will personally go to the Bank of Italy once parliament opens again to

see if it has been put in place. It should be," he added. 

     Bolstered by picking up nearly 20% of the vote in Sunday's election, Lega

is the biggest stakeholder in the centre-right coalition that won around 37% of

the overall vote. 

     Now Italy's third-largest party, behind the 5 Star Movement and the

Democrats, chances are high that they will play a major role in the formation of

the next government.

     Lega's ultimate goal remains an exit from the euro. This could however

happen in two ways, explained Borghi. The euro could implode naturally, collapse

by itself, or if a Lega-led government built sufficient consensus to leave the

single currency. 

     "Given our coalition didn't secure the necessary 40% of votes, we first

need to find allies to form a new government. Only after this stage, and if we

do have their support, could we start discussing the future of the euro in

Italy," he said. 

     Post-vote alliances and coalitions remain blurry. The 5-Star Movement could

support the Lega's anti-euro crusade, but the outgoing Democrats could not. 

     --LIRA REDUX

     Borghi argued that a strong currency such as the euro was harming Italian

exports and that a euro-free economy would have greater independence from

systemic eurozone shocks. 

     Italy, however, would need to revert to a "stable" currency to substitute

the euro in order to ease the exit process and avoid bank runs. 

     "Take Austria, for instance, if it goes back to its sustainable Schilling,

there won't be people lining up to withdraw cash at ATMs," he noted.

     If Lega do lead Italy's next government it will boost Italy's credibility

and bargaining power on the European stage. "We need to better exploit the fact

that we are net contributors to the EU's budget, refuse binding fiscal rules and

pursue with accommodative policies no matter what Brussels wants," says Borghi. 

     "If Brussels fails to understand this, too bad for them. We are not like

Greece, we don't receive huge EU subsidies, thus we're on an equal footing and

this should be made clear," he added.  

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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