Italy business lobby asks for urgent measures to lower energy costs

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian industries need lower energy costs in order to survive and compete effectively with European peers, the head the country's main business lobby Confindustria said on Tuesday.

"Our companies continue to suffer from an energy (price) surcharge of more than 35% over the European average, even reaching peaks of 80% when compared to the largest European countries," Emanuele Orsini said at Confindustria's annual meeting.

Orsini called for a change in the price mechanism for electricity, a cut in the general costs included in energy bills, fewer regulatory hurdles for renewables, and a return to nuclear energy.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Alvise Armellini)