ROME: Italy’s prime minister, who scored a dramatic win in the EU elections, warned Europe Saturday not to be distracted by a leadership battle but concentrate on reforms, with his country leading the way.

“Before we discuss names, let’s agree on the agenda,” Matteo Renzi said in an interview with La Stampa and other leading European papers amid growing tension over whether Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker should become the next EU Commission president.

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Juncker on Friday, others — including British Prime Minister David Cameron — have called for a reformer at the helm of the EU executive.

Asked for his stance on Juncker, Renzi said he was “more interested in the [state of the] job market than positions of power,” adding that whoever gets the post “must love Europe, but through innovative eyes.” The 39-year-old — whose Democratic Party won 40.8 percent at last weekend’s elections, giving it the highest number of MEPs among Europe’s leftists — vowed Italy would lead the way on much-needed reforms.

The eurozone’s third largest economy, which was rocked by the financial crisis, “has chosen stability, which means serious, hard-hitting reforms. We can say we want to change Europe because we are starting with reforms at home.” Renzi praised Germany as a model for reform, but called for a change of economic policy, warning that austerity alone was not enough.

“I have an excellent relationship with Merkel. Germany is not an enemy. This does not mean there isn’t the possibility of having different ideas on many issues,” he said.