Brussels, 30/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission does not understand how Silvio Berlusconi's movement reached a figure of €18bn for the cost of the climate/energy package to Italian industry (EUROPE 9765) and has explained its own calculation method. Barbara Hefferich, the spokeswomen for the European Commissioner for the environment, Stavros Dimas affirmed to the press on 30 October that according to the Commission the direct cost to Italy will be 0.66% of its GDP, “€12bn in 2020”, whilst the average direct cost for EU countries will be 0.45% of GDP, around €70bn. “Surplus costs to Italy are due to it lagging behind in renewable energies”. The message was went to the Italian authorities during a meeting with Commission experts on 24 October. (A.N./trans/rh)