Italy takes over EU presidency amid controversy
Italy took over the presidency of the EU at midnight last night amid concerns about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s suitability for the job.
Yesterday a Milan court suspended his trial on charges of bribery under a controversial new immunity law. It has been suggested that under Silvio Berlusconi’s leadership, the country might not still qualify if it sought EU membership today.
The new immunity law means that the Prime Minister’s trial on charges of bribing judges in a 1980s privatisation deal, will be postponed, sparing Italy the major embarrassment of a possible guilty verdict during the EU presidency.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis will review the Greek EU presidency, which has just finished, in the EU parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday and Mr Berlusconi is expected to face hostile questioning when he takes the floor on Wednesday.
On Monday, the billionaire businessman outlined some of the aims of his EU presidency; these included restoring good relations between Europe and the US damaged by the Iraq war, promoting peace in the Middle East, possibly by holding a peace conference in Sicily, and immigration – Italy supports the idea of immigrant holding centres outside the EU.
In an interview with a French radio station on Monday, Mr Berlusconi said Europe should increase spending on defence, pointing out that EU states spend only on 1% of GDP on the military, compared with 4% in the US. The EU should ‘provide itself with a defence that can make it more highly considered by the international community’, he said.
