Berlusconi government on verge of collapse over EU economic reforms

[marmar]

The government of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was on the verge of collapse Tuesday over a stalemate with his coalition partner on the lightning-quick economic reforms demanded by the European Union ahead of tomorrow’s crucial EU summit.

The chaos in Italy, the euro zone’s third largest economy and the new epicentre of the debt crisis, threatens to throw the summit into turmoil. Already, the finance minister of Poland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has said the Wednesday meeting may come up short on its promises to deliver a full crisis-fighting package.

At the same time, the EU’s finance minister - known as the Ecofin group - have cancelled their Brussels meeting on Wednesday because details of their agenda have yet to be finalized. "Ministers of finance may meet in the coming days to fine-tune decisions that will be taken tomorrow," said a spokesman for Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president. "There is no new summit planned."

Mr. Berlusconi’s own political crisis began Sunday at an EU meeting in Brussels, where he was berated by other EU leaders for his go-slow approach on launching the economic reforms needed to revive Italy’s ailing economy. His political problems intensified Monday night, when an emergency cabinet meeting in Rome failed to produce agreements on reform with his coalition partner, the Lega Nord (Northern League), the powerful eurosceptic party based in Italy’s wealthy industrial region in the north. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/european/berlusconi-government-on-verge-of-collapse-over-eu-economic-reforms/article2212779/

[MADem]

1. How will Prime Minister Pervy Hairplugs get out of this fix?

He gives me the creeps.

[Kaleko]

2. Mama mia!

The global financial war just hit yet another unforeseen chaos point.
No seat belts left to fasten in the free fall we're in right now. We're out of tools.

On Tuesday, Mr. Berlusconi, 75, found himself fighting yet again for his political life as the stalemate persisted. “The government is at risk,” Umberto Bossi, leader of the Lega Nord, told reporters in Rome. “The situation is difficult, very dangerous. This is a dramatic moment.”

[tama]

3. EU elites

are lost and clueless. Italian government going down will quite likely spell the end of their empty buffoonery.