Tag: Berlusconi

Hundreds of thousands of women rallied in Rome and other cities yesterday (13 February), incensed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandals, which they say have disgraced Italy.

With a new Silvio Berlusconi sex scandal involving prostitutes and an underage girl of Moroccan origin dominating Italian political debate, people in Brussels are lamenting the damage to Italy's reputation. Meanwhile, the leader of the MEPs from Berlusconi's party is distancing himself from the prime minister's behaviour.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence vote yesterday (14 December), leaving his centre-right  government in power. The vote triggered the most violent protests seen in Rome for years.

The European Commission on Tuesday (20 July) gave the go-ahead to Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch's bid to compete for a digital terrestrial television frequency in Italy, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire.

An unusual Franco-Italian duo has emerged in recent weeks to influence EU decisions on everything ranging from aid to Athens to climate change, as Germany appears increasingly reluctant to take any new major European initiatives.

The European Parliament will vote on the issue of press freedom in Italy at its next plenary session, after strong pressure from Italian opposition parties to address the dangers posed by the control over the media exercised by the country's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right PDL party was confirmed as the winning Italian party in the European elections, gaining several seats in the European Parliament and increasing its chances of appointing the next president of the EU assembly.

This week, nine of the EU's 27 member states are due to hold domestic votes at the same time as the European Parliament poll, including in three of the EU's largest countries. While critics allege that twinning elections confuses European issues, defenders argue that it should increase voter turnout.

Italy's EU election campaign seems not to be focusing on substance, after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's wife filed for divorce over reports that her husband was considering putting forward a string of young women with no political experience to stand for his centre-right party.

A battle between tycoons is raging in Italy, where the centre-right government has encountered massive opposition to a proposed tax increase on Rupert Murdoch's subscription-based Sky Italia, the main competitor of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's television empire.

The 19-20 June European Council meeting, held one week after the negative Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, became a sorry scene of attacks by heads of state and government on individual commissioners and the EU executive as a whole.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has backtracked over a controversial bill that would make illegal immigration a criminal offence following heavy criticism from the United Nations, the Vatican and within the European Parliament.

The European Commission has warned the Italian government not to take "extreme measures" against EU citizens, just 12 days after Silvio Berlusconi was sworn in as prime minister.

By further extending Franco Frattini's unpaid leave, Commission President José Manuel Barroso cleared the way for incoming Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to nominate his protégé, MEP Antonio Tajani, as his successor.

The European dimension is much stronger in the election programme of former Commission President Romano Prodi, who leads the center-left opposition in a showdown against the incumbent PM Silvio Berlusconi.  

Romano Prodi, the former Commission president, has received strong backing to run against current Prime Minister Berlusconi in the next Italian general elections.

Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has rejected Berlusconi's offer for him to replace Finance Minister Tremonti. Monti prefers a third term in Brussels.

On 11 July, Silvio Berlusconi told international journalists that he would assign each EU Prime Minister a portfolio and appoint them as EU Commissioners.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi officially launched the Italian Presidency of the EU with a presentation of the presidency programme in the European Parliament on 2 July 2003. However, Mr Berlusconi caused outrage in the Parliament and in Berlin by insulting a German vice-president of the European socialist party.

At the General Affairs Council on 28 January 2002, the EU Foreign Ministers agreed that Mr Fini would be allowed to represent Italy at the Convention on EU reform. Another Italian, Mr Amato, already holds the post of Vice-President of the Convention. The Belgian government told EurActiv that it will also send a representative to the Convention besides Mr Dehaene, who is the Convention's second Vice-president.

Former World Trade Organisation chief Renato Ruggiero will be the foreign minister in Silvio Berlusconi's new Italian government