After the 2013 election produced an inconclusive result, and following negotiations between party leaders, President Giorgio Napolitano gave Letta the task of forming a national unity government composed of his own PD, the centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) and the centrist Civic Choice, in order to mitigate the economic and social crises engulfing Italy as a result of the Great Recession. Following an agreement between parties, Letta resigned as PD Deputy Secretary and was appointed Prime Minister of Italy on 28 April 2013. His government tried to promote economic recovery by securing a funding deal from the European Union to alleviate youth unemployment, and also abolished the state funding of political parties, something seen as a watershed moment for Italian political politics which for years had depended upon public funds. Letta also faced the early stages of the European migrant crisis, including the deadliest shipwreck in the recent history of the Mediterranean Sea; in response, Letta implemented Operation Mare Nostrum to patrol the maritime borders and rescue migrants.