A weekend summit of European leaders in Brussels focused attention on Italy, where the inability of Silvio Berlusconi’s hobbled government coalition to impose necessary reforms is now seen as potentially as dangerous to the future of the single currency as Greece’s massive sovereign debt. When French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were asked at Sunday’s press conference about Italy’s commitments, they chuckled, and then insisted again that the government must radically change its policies or risk dragging down the whole continent’s economy. La Stampa’s editor-in-chief weighs in.
It is detestable to be put under outside supervision, to be citizens of a state of limited sovereignty, where foreign leaders set the agenda of reforms and impose a three-day deadline to respond.
It is irritating to watch the chuckles and winks of Merkel and Sarkozy when Italy and Berlusconi are mentioned: this is disrespectful and unacceptable.
It is humiliating to hear that Europe considers us in the same category as Greece—or even worse, since at Sunday’s summit, some were reportedly saying that “in this moment, not only is Italy in danger, but it is the danger.”
But respect must be earned with credibility and by abiding by one’s commitments – and we have been missing both for far too long in Italy. We are the ‘sick man of Europe” because the government is paralyzed and is unable to lead us toward a path of growth and reform. Across the entire contient, notwithstanding all the divisions, there is agreement on one point: the Italian prime minister must quickly and radically shift gears, or step aside following the example of his Spanish counterpart, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Read the original article in Italian
Photo – EPP
