A German business group says it's worried about the potential risks to the economy and Europe's currency union posed by the outcome of Italy's constitutional referendum. The current election law would hand a huge bonus of seats to the lower house while maintaining a proportional system for the upper house. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says the German leader "took note with regret" of Italian Premier Matteo Renzi's announcement that he would resign following his defeat in the constitutional referendum. Germany's finance minister is calling for a calm response to the outcome of Italy's constitutional referendum and says that there's no basis to talk of it triggering a "euro crisis." The head of the group of 19 countries that use the euro currency says there is no need for "emergency steps" after Italian voters rejected constitutional reforms. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's says the rejection of Italy's proposed constitutional reforms in a referendum will not affect its credit rating for the country. Germany's foreign minister has expressed concern about the result of Italy's referendum, while lauding the loss of a right-wing populist in presidential elections in Austria. Speaking during a visit to Greece, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that while the result of the Italian referendum on constitutional reform, which has led Italian Premier Matteo Renzi to resign, was "not the end of the world," it was also "not a positive development in the case of the general crisis in Europe." Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Brussels that he has "full confidence in Italian authorities to manage this situation" after Italian voters rejected constitutional reforms and pro-EU Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation. A senior European Parliament lawmaker from Germany says Italy's reform referendum heralds a period of instability and is a setback for those who want to see reform in Europe. Asked what that means for Europe, Manfred Weber, the leader of the main conservative group in the European Parliament, told ZDF television: "Initially, a phase of instability now lies ahead of us — how will one of the biggest countries in the European Union now stabilize itself?" Italy was plunged into political and economic uncertainty following voters' resounding rebuke of Premier Matteo Renzi's proposed constitutional reforms.
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