Italy is ''very concerned'' over the possibility of some countries, even within the European Union, giving in to the temptation of adopting protectionist measures to protect their economies, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said here on Monday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Frattini said protectionism was ''the wrong answer'' to the global economic and financial crisis.
Within the EU, he added, protectionism risked upsetting the concept of a single European market and the mentality which has been guiding the process of European unification over the past 50 years.
''Combating protectionist tendencies is one of the priorities of Italy's presidency of the Group of Eight'' in 2009, Frattini said.
In regard to Italy's G8 presidency, Frattini explained that two of its goals were to increase the efficiency of global governance and to make the G8 more representative by expanding it to include new partners.
''Emerging countries must be brought into the decision-making process, while at the same time they must also share the responsibility of global governance,'' Frattini observed.
The Italian diplomatic chief added by emerging countries he was also referring to African ones because it was the view of the Italian G8 presidency that sustainable and stable growth would not be possible without addressing the needs of developing African countries.
During its G8 presidency, Frattini said, Italy will also work for the success of the Copenhagen summit on climate change at the end of the year and take an ''aggressive approach'' against nuclear proliferation on a multilateral level.
Turning his attention to Afghanistan, Frattini said this would be a ''crucial'' year for that nation's future which will entail the key contribution of countries in the region, like Iran.
It was for this reason, he explained, that Italy was organising a special conference on Afghanistan and Pakistan in June in Trieste with the participation not only of the G8 countries but also India, Turkey, China, the Gulf states and the Asian republics.
