![FILE PHOTO: Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People Party group (EPP) looks on, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg](https://freeamericanetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/frontrunner-for-eu-job-wants-dialogue-with-italy-over-budget-dispute.jpg)
FILE PHOTO: Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People Party group (EPP) looks on, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo
November 13, 2018
BERLIN (Reuters) – German conservative Manfred Weber, who is running to take over the European Union’s top job next year, would focus more on investment, including in digital infrastructure, if he becomes European Commission President, he told German radio on Tuesday.
He also said that Italy’s budget plans were not encouraging but he preferred to take the disagreement with Rome step by step and pursue dialogue. “Efforts must be made to practise dialogue,” he told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Gernot Heller; Writing by Madeline Chambers)