Still plenty of obstacles remain in the.......>

ITALY: Still plenty of obstacles remain in the road to new Italian gov't despite

PM Conte accepting mandate to lead new M5S-PD coalition. Below are some of the

hurdles gov't needs to clear:

- New government needs approval in both houses of parliament, and M5S members

need to approve coalition in online ballot.

- M5S+PD hold majority of 5 in Chamber of Deputies and are 3 seats short in

Senate. Will need support of smaller parties. 

- If confirmed, gov't intends to continue to 2023, but likely trouble already on

horizon. Draft budget required by EU in mid-Oct (potential for some leeway

here). 

- M5S and PD remain very different in approach to whole raft of economic and

fiscal issues, but both parties keen to avoid 2020 VAT hike.