Italy expects EU backing for energy spending flexibility, foreign minister says

ROME, June 2 (Reuters) - The European Union is likely to give a positive answer to Italy's request for more flexibility on energy-related spending to help households and businesses cope with high costs, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.

Tajani told daily Corriere della Sera that Rome's request was "absolutely legitimate", adding that such leeway could remain in place until market conditions stabilise, including shipping flows through routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.

Italy, highly dependent on imported energy, has been among a group of countries pushing the EU to adapt fiscal rules to better address the economic impact of energy shocks.

"I do not believe the EU will fail to give a positive answer. I am confident," said Tajani, who is also deputy prime minister.

Italy has asked the European Commission to grant member states the same fiscal leeway to face surging energy costs as is currently allowed for defence spending.

In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in May, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that Rome could drop plans to ​tap the EU's SAFE defence scheme without such leeway.

Several Italian newspapers on Tuesday reported that an answer from Brussels could come as early as Wednesday, on condition that flexibility will be used for investment and not on subsidies.

(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Andrew Heavens)