The European Commission on Thursday cut short a furious debate in Italy on the use of the Bank of Italy’s gold reserves to lower the country’s debt, saying it was up to the European Central Bank to decide independently on the foreign reserves of eurozone member states.

A suggestion by Romano Prodi, the prime minister, that the government might use the reserves sparked a political row on Wednesday with Paolo Bonaiuti, a spokesman for Silvio Berlusconi, the opposition leader.