100 posts
Italy among EU worst performers in GHG reduction
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Italy produces some 550 million tons of greenhouse gases, thus ranking third among European biggest polluters, according to the report "Ambiente Italia 2010" (Italy Environment 2010). It ranked fifth in 1990 and 4th in 2000. The most serious problems...
We Expect Europe...
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News from Italy, after Berlusconi's party, the PDL (People of Liberty) failed to register in...
The Antithesis of Justice : Criminal Convictions in Italy of Google Execs Point to Flaws in European Union (EU) Law
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We posted about this absurd case previously at EU Pundit.Struan Robertson, editor of out-law.com, writes on March 3, 2010 in Google convictions reveal two flaws in EU law, not just Italian law inter alia as follows regarding the inexcusable crimin...
The UN and discrimination in Italy
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In its Universal Periodic Review, the UN Human Rights Council criticised the policies of the Italian government and the terms of its “security package”. Related posts:MEPs Join Campaign for Free Media in Italy The Roma and Sinti Minority in Ita...
Italy vs. Google
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Wired.com: Does Italy’s Google Conviction Portend More Censorship? from CyberLaw Blog Google Hit With Antitrust Investigation in Europe from Mashable! by Adam Ostrow Google executives convicted in Italy web case from FT.com – World, Europe...
Court in Italy Convicts 3 Google Execs in Absentia for Privacy Violation Due to Delay in Takedown of Previously Flagged Objectionable Online Video
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Italian Court Convicts 3 Google Executies in Absentia for Privacy Violation Due to Delay in Takedown of Flagged Online VideoVia Sylvia Poggioli at npr.org, the Associated Press informs us that:"An Italian court convicted three Google executives o...
Italian and Montenegrin PM meeting. Berlusconi: Italy to build €720 milion underwater transmission line
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Governments of Montenegro and Italy will launch an investment project worth EUR 720mn - an underwater electric transmission line. Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic visited Rome (February 6th 2010) and discussed with his Italian colleague Silvio Berlu...
Italy Asks for Referral to Grand Chamber of Crucifix Case
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Just a few days before the three months deadline, Italy asked last week for referral of the case of Lautsi to the Grand Chamber of the Court. At the beginning of November last year, the Court had found that the compulsory presence of crucifixes in cl...
New Italian Judge at the Court
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Tuesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Mr Guido Raimondi He has been elected for a six-year term of office and will replace Vladimiro Zagrebelsky, who in March will be reaching the age of 70 - the age-limit for ECtHR jud...
Berlin–Rome–Ankara
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Following the results of the meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin suggested to deepen the cooperation within energy sphere by assets exchanging. First of all the case is about the access to the...
Why Italy is giving priority to Africa’s development
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Italy is paying closer attention to Africa in the conviction that there is a different continent from the one traditionally depicted as a land of poverty, disease and conflict. Africa is a young continent with enormous potential in terms of human cap...
After Berlusconi attack, Italy on dangerous road
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It was the projectile cathedral-smack heard ‘round the world. Sunday night’s attack on Silvio Berlusconi in Milan almost immediately started generating so much internet snark and celebration that the facts quickly became clouded. First reports sa...
Berlusconi, a planetary man of politics, visits Belarus
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It passed largely unnoticed by the outside world, but perhaps the most intriguing event in European foreign policy last week was a visit paid to Belarus by Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. The European Union has kept Belarus at arm’s length...
Which future for Roma community in Italy?
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Grows up concern around the precarious condition of Roma into the italian area,with the absolute indifference from media and government. Episodes of violence, assaults and rage increase daily, showing Roma, in essence, as executioners, and never like...
The Roma and Sinti Minority in Italy: A Violation of Fundamental Rights?
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This article analyses the situation of Roma and Sinti in Italy.This minority is probably the most disadvantaged one in Italy,one of the EU countries with the highest number of minorities.The focus lies especially on the current situation under Silvio...
Appeasement in our time: Berlusconi goes to Belarus
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BERLIN — This year has been full of celebrations of the peaceful revolutions of 1989, arguably the most important advance of freedom, democracy, and human rights in history. But this year has also seen rapid European rapprochement with (and som...
P2, Berlusconi and the Media
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The Italian public television network Rai has been strongly politicized since its creation in 1954. The Masonic Lodge “Propaganda 2” was a secret Lodge which became very influent in Italy during the 70s. One of the main goals of the Masonic Lodg...
Press Freedom in Italy Resolution Fails
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3 votes just stopped a resolution by the European Parliament on press freedom in Italy....
The Political Divide over Press Freedom
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Few issues have divided the European Parliament in the way that Silvio Berlusconi has managed to do. I am talking specifically about his iron grip on the Italian media, though there are, of course other issues – ultra right wing views, corrup...
Berlusconi the fighter
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When the Italian prime minister appeared before the cameras, after the court had lifted his immunity, he ended with the words "Long Live Italy! Long Live Berlusconi!" There is often a moment when a leader has been in power for...
1000 euros for a night with Silvio Berlusconi
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Southern Italian businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini stated* in a 29 July police interrogation that he had recruited 30 young women for 18 parties in the prime minister's private villas between September 2008 and January 2009. Some are said to have recei...
Launch of European Campaign for Media Freedom in Italy
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Launch of our campaign to pressure the European Parliament to take a stand on recent media intimidation in Italy. www.freepresseurope.eu THE CAMPAIGN Lack of a European response to the recent intimidation of the press in Italy poses a direct threa...
Berlusconi's persecution complex
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The latest twists in the scandals surrounding the Italian Prime Minister are too serious to summarise in a short blog post. Having smeared the Editor of Avvenire, a Roman Catholic daily newspaper in Italy, which dared to question his moral fitness fo...
Parliamentary Assembly Lambasts Italy for Ignoring Court's Interim Measures
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The chair of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Legal Affairs Committee, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, and the Assembly's rapporteur on the implementation of ECtHR judgments, Christos Porgourides, have lambasted Italy for ignoring yet another i...
Conversations between Berlusconi and his Prostitute
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What follows are short extracts from recordings taken by Berlusconi's prostitute, Patrizia D'Addario and published by L'espresso.PDA: A young man would have come in a second. You know, I mean, he would have come... Young men are under a lot of pressu...
What’s wrong with Berlusconi (2)
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Most of this is in line with What’s wrong with Berlusconi take 1 (my very first blog post) but priorities have changed a little and I wanted to be a tad more concise (just a tad.) Here goes. 1. He compromises the rule of law I won’t get i...
Ten more questions for Silvio Berlusconi
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1. When did you first meet Noemi Letizia? How many times did you meet her and where? Have you frequented other minors and do you still do so?2. What is the reason that forced you to not tell the truth for two months, instead giving four different ver...
The G8 Summit – no Fireside Chats with Silvio, Please
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A few months ago I gave a presentation to a group of Italian politicians who had asked me to give them my take on international economic institutions, their relevance (or irrelevance), and what the future holds for international economic cooperation.
The Sound of Silvio: 'Italians like me the way I am'
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Nothing keeps Europe's mediatic hills more alive than the sound of Silvio Berlusconi's music. His colourful quips, defences and actions are fast becoming cult in the field of national politics...
Swedish and Italian Traffic Flows: A Comparison
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It seems light years ago now, but I once had a delightful Swedish friend whose father, reflecting on his distinguished career in public service, told her that the proudest moment of his life was when Sweden switched from driving on the left side of...
The Sound of Silvio: 'I'll continue to work as ever for the good of this country'
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Nothing keeps Europe's mediatic hills more alive than the sound of Silvio Berlusconi's music. His colourful quips, defences and actions are fast becoming cult in the field of national politics. On 18 June, the Italian prime minister, 72, cranks up th...
Italy, EU and Asylum: Myths of unfair “burdens”
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Italy is pleading it´s fellow EU Member States to share the “burdens” of asylum seekers. The move comes as criticism is mounting towards the country for failing to comply with international human rights standards (see my previous post an...
The real sin of Silvio Berlusconi
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It’s quiz time, and here’s your starter for ten. Which 18-year-old hottie home-breaker, as the European tabloid press is calling her, recently made the immortal statement: “I want to be a showgirl. But I’m also inter...
Why is Berlusconi acceptable?
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I recently hinted that I would not write about Berlusconi quite so much anymore, but given the week’s events, I couldn’t help myself. With the incessant run-ins with the law, using office to stave off prosecution, the gaffes, the showgi...
Ten Questions for Silvio Berlusconi
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1. Mr Prime Minister, how and when did you first meet Noemi Letizia's father?2. During the course of this friendship how many times, and where, have you met?3. How would you describe the reasons for your friendship with Benedetto Letizia?4. Why did y...
Italy | Security bill passed some days before the election
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This week, Silvio Berlusconi's government won three confidence votes to pass a security law, which makes it easier to deport illegal immigrants among other things. Berlusconi's centre-right party promised to pass this bill during the legislative elec...
Libertas Italy includes Extreme Right Party but launch is a poorly attended as Ganley says he will raise 30 million
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Libertas may raise €30m for election push, says GanleyPADDY AGNEW in RomeAS THE dawning of a new era goes, it was perhaps a little low key. Declan Ganley, the founder of the anti-Lisbon Treaty and now pan-European party, Libertas.eu, arrived more t...
Italy, fair trade grows by 20% in 2008
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2008 ended in a very positive way for Fairtrade certified products. Despite the ticklish period, pur...
Silvio Berlusconi chats as Nato remembers fallen soldiers
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He has done it again. Italy's clown prime minister has managed to miss a ceremony for fallen Nato soldiers because he was too busy nattering on his mobile phone. Silvio Berlusconi latest gaffe also meant he is not present in a Nato "family" photo to...
Diplomacy vs. Silvio Berlusconi
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A typical “Berlusconi”: First he annoyed the Queen during the G20 summit in London, today at the NATO summit Ms Merkel was not amused… Silvio Berlusconi and his diplomatic incidents - a never ending story? In other countries an...
Italy’s Economic Contraction Accelerates
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There is no doubt about it: Italy’s economic situation has worsened considerably during the current quarter. Only last week the OECD forecast that Italy’s gross domestic product is likely to fall by 4.2 percent in 2009. This follows hot...
Libertas fail to launch in Rome
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Libertas fail to launch in RomeWhere was the planned unveiling of candidates that was promised for yesterday?Libertas are in disarray? or being more secretive than usual. Ganley said Sunday that he would run 50 candidates in Germany.Where are they?
Libertas to launch in Rome today? Keep Rome free of Libertas fascists. Shun Ganley and the far right
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Libertas have said they would launch in Rome today. As you will have seen this blogger asked people to write to Pope Benedict asking him not to meet with Ganley prior to the European elections.Though Libertas were due to launch a manifesto today, thi...
Anything that thinks logically can be fooled by anything that thinks at least as logically
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On Monday, I saw Paolo Sorrentino’s film about Giulio Andreotti, Il Divo at the ICA. It’s a scorching brilliant sensation, full value for its Prix du Jury, and I strongly recommend you see it at once. The first thing you need to know is...
Uniting the Italian Right
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The right wing party Alleanza Nazionale will merge with Berlusconi's governing Forza Italia to form a new centre-right political party (called "People of Freedom", if I've understood the article correctly). (Here in German). The party will be launche...
Shut the Shops and Sit in the Corner
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[Image: "Open/Closed", 2007, nchenga, Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic]One of the most frustrating things about Italy (for me) is the siesta.Between twelve and three o'clock, Trento dies. Yes, the bars and restaurants buzz with activity - but if...
Happy Birthday Italy
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You are two today, since you just completed 24 consecutive months of retail sales decline. Business confidence isn’t looking any too rosy either: And I hope you are “readying up” that rescue plan for Sunday Angela, since the diff...
Nancy Pelosi: Italy Is Our Greatest Ally
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Italy holds the G8 presidency this year and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi puts her charms on. Prior to a departure of a Congressional delegation to Italy she kissed ass praised in a press release: "The United States has no greater ally in NA...
Berlusconi’s British lawyer found guilty of bribe-taking
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Here’s the latest news from a Milan courtroom … http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2009-02-17_117317393.html … Of course, if corporate lawyer David Mills took the bribe (he denies it), then someone must have given...
Italy’s Recession Deepens
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Italian fourth-quarter gross domestic product declined at the fastest quarterly rate in nearly 30 years, sending Europe’s fourth-largest economy off into an even deeper recession. According to ISTAT preliminary estimates, Italian GDP fell 1.8%...
How do You Say Schiavo in Italian?
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One of my favourite things about my new French class is that it's geared toward EU workers, so we discuss news and current events in class. This morning we were talking about the Eluana Englaro debate going on in Italy right now. Interestingly, when...
Jobs and mobility in Rome
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Third day for the th!nkers taking part in Y Vote conference in Rome. After some rainy sessions,today was time to jump into the campus and talk with the students from La Sapienza University and share with them impressions about the main topic : jobs ...
Italian Coma Paitent Dies
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And so it ended.This case has made me very uneasy: the speed with which Berlusconi moved to overturn a court decision is quite disturbing. If the executive and legislature are going to intervene in the judicial system, then it should always be measur...
Unicredit Won’t Be Going To The Italian Government For Funds, This Week
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Well it seems Guilio Tremonti was paying brinksmanship with someone last Friday, since according to Bloomberg this morning: UniCredit SpA, Italy’s biggest bank, said institutional investors will buy its convertible bonds after its biggest investor,...
Moral freefall
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A law was passed in the Italian senate today that permits doctors to denounce illegal immigrants to the authorities. It might not pass, as it may be deemed unconstitutional, but so what, the damage is done. There is really no benefit whatsoever to th...
Roma, machine guns, Roma
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The end of a clear January day in Roma. Time for a run before the sun set over the pines lining the hills along the Tiber north of the city, a perfect end to a long day in the office. The cycle path along the Tiber is a perfect place to run - wide, f...
Berlusconi: A Great Leader in Troubled Times
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Italy is leading the way towards a new European Economic structure. In the face of large budget deficits and mounting public debt the Berlusconi Government has identified a crucial area of wasted taxpayer money: Education .Steep cuts in the money spe...
