Italy

On 13 November in Rome, the Czechs finally ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The last member state to do so, this momentous event ended years of writing, revising, and ratifying. It also marked the beginning of any equally complex process of interpreting and implementing the treaty. The ratification process was not certainly not without controversy. The month before, the Irish approved the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland was the only member state to hold a referendum, and it even did so twice, when the first answer (‘no!’) was not what it was looking for. Euro-skeptic Czech President Klaus was determined to block ratification, and was supported by British opposition leader David Cameron, who apparently wrote him a letter of support, something along the lines of ‘keep resisting, we’ll join you soon’. But the pressure grew too much, and the treaty has finally been formally approved, and will come into force 1 December 2009.

Photo: Flickr, Storm Crypt

Days before he got re-elected as the head of the Italian government, Silvio Berlusconi rejected plans by AirFrance KLM to buy Alitalia, the Italian airline which is on the verge of collapse. He promised a State plan to save this symbol of Italian capitalism knowing full well that his projects were absolutely not compatible with EU rules. A 300 million euro loan granted to the company by the previous government (headed by Romano Prodi) is already being investigated by the Commission which has clearly stated that this practice was incompatible with single market rules. This activism by the Italian politicians may ironically lead to more job losses. With Airfrance KLM taking over, there clearly would have been a significant number of job losses, but it now looks like Alitalia is headed for bankruptcy, giving the employees not the slightest chance of keeping their jobs.

After his convincing victory in the general elections in Italy Silvio Berlusconi now faces the challenge of composing his cabinet. This phase reveals that Il Cavaliere is hostage to his allies and especially lega nord the separatist xenophobic right wing party which scored an unexpected 8% and is a key component of Berlusconi’s coalition. Umberto Bossi, the leader of the northern league even went as far as to announce that he had negotiated 4 spots in the cabinet including the Council vice-presidency and the ministry of reform for himself. Berlusconi had to publicly remind his coalition partner that he was in charge and would decide in the end who would make up his team. This underscores however that Berlusconi will not be completely independent and that, especially on European dossiers, he will be heavily influenced by partners who have been historically hostile to Brussels. The comments of Berlusconi calling socialist MEP Martin Schultz a capo during the last Italian presidency have not been forgotten in the European capital and have left a bitter memory. With that kind of baggage and those allies his leadership credentials on the European stage are seriously diminished.

Italy is yet again in the midst of a political crisis after Romano Prodi failed to win a risky vote of confidence in the Senate. His centre left collation collapsed when the minister of Justice Clemente Mastella resigned due to a corruption scandal involving him and his wife. Mastella’s party which had three representatives in the Senate refused to back the Prime minister in the vote forcing him to step down. The Italian president Giorgio Napolitano now needs to decide whether he will call for early elections or appoint a transition government. Ideally this government would propose an election reform in order to put an end to a system in which the major parties are unable to get clear majorities and are forced into unmanageable coalition. Silvion Berlusconi has called for elections and would be the clear favourite; indeed Prodi’s coalition going from moderate parties to radical leftist parties proved to be completely ineffective and the approval rating of the Prime Minister had recently fallen to 25%.

That is the number of tonnes literally filling up the streets of Naples, one of the most picturesque (and colourful) European cities. This unprecedented crisis is the result of a controversy over the opening of new garbage dumps in the region. The Camorra (the local mafia) is opposed to these openings which are badly needed to dispose of Naples’ garbage. The criminal organization has made a very lucrative business over the last years by exploiting the shortcoming of the garbage disposal system and capturing a sizable part of the profits generated by that activity. The city of Geneva and the port of Bremerhaven have stepped up to the plate to help the local authorities which, in some instances, have had to close schools for sanitary reasons or simply because the trash is physically blocking the entry of the school buildings. Bremerhaven could dispose of 30 000 tonnes of trash to relieve the Italian city. The president of the European Commission has warned Italy that they could face sanctions for not respecting European rules regarding trash disposal. However help from well intentioned cities or a slap on the wrist will do little to help Naples to rid its politics and economy of the influence of organized crime.