The president of Italian antitrust authority on Tuesday called for more competition to stimulate the economy both at national and European levels.

Returning to growth requires structural reforms that increase competition, Giovanni Pitruzzella said while presenting the annual report of Italian Market Competition Guarantee Authority.

"Policy for competition constitutes one of the most important issues" in promoting economic development and tackling the socioeconomic inequalities "that have characterized Western society in the last decade," he warned.

"If we consider those sectors of the Italian economy where there have been major processes of liberalization and of market opening in recent years, it is easy to realize the positive impact of liberalizations on the economy," Pitruzzella noted.

Pitruzzella called for harmonizing the liberalization of markets among all member states of the European Union (EU), adding that the competition policy, since its beginning, has helped prevent from re-creating obstacles and barriers.

"The integration of national markets in one big market is the basis of the European construction and its improvement, but the elimination of remaining barriers may result in a significant contribution to growth," he said.

He defined "the existence of non-homogeneous levels of liberalization" as "an obstacle on the path of reciprocity and the full affirmation of the single market."

In his view, Italian political institutions should demand "the same zeal for guaranteeing the openness of European markets that Italy is demonstrating."

The authority head added that more competition was especially necessary in Italy in the fields of electricity, infrastructure and banking, as well as the postal sector "where are still areas of intervention to facilitate the entry of new operators really competitive". Endi