Tag: Italy

• Friday, July 13th 2012 - 23:41 UTC

  Former PM Berlusconi will return as candidate in next year’s general election

  

  Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will return to frontline politics as the centre-right candidate in next year's general election, a senior official in his PDL party was quoted this week.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:23 UTC

  Italy’s caretaker PM Monti says next year’s election can be looked at “with serenity”

  

  Italy's technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti, appointed last year to steer his country through a debt crisis, said he was confident a stable government would be formed after elections in 2013, playing down fears of deadlock after he steps down.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 12:20 UTC

  Italy announces further cuts in expenditure and freezes government hiring

  

  Italy's government has agreed to cut spending by 26bn Euros over the next three years to plug the gap between spending and income. The cuts, approved after seven hours of talks, include a 10% reduction in the number of civil servants and cuts to healthcare and come as Italy struggles to keep the faith of investors.

• Saturday, June 30th 2012 - 05:25 UTC

  Relief in EU: German parliament approved Euro rescue fund and fiscal pact

  

  As expected, more than two-thirds of the lawmakers in Germany's parliament moved on Friday to approve the permanent Euro rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, and a fiscal pact long championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

• Friday, June 22nd 2012 - 07:39 UTC

  Political deal in Germany on the ESM; mini summit in Rome to rescue Spain

  

  The German government and opposition reached on Thursday a deal that will allow parliament to approve the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, next week, but Germany's top court may delay the rescue fund's start date, saying it needed time to study the treaty.

• Friday, June 1st 2012 - 02:16 UTC

  Italy hugely exposed to the Euro-debt turmoil and to Spanish contagion

  

  Italy is hugely exposed to the risk of contagion from the debt turmoil in the euro zone, said Prime Minister Mario Monti, suggesting the European Central Bank take action to help cool borrowing costs.

• Tuesday, May 15th 2012 - 00:45 UTC

  Italian Army on call to deal with growing violence; links with Greek anarchists

  

  Italy's Prime Minister has not ruled out bringing in the army to deal with the increasing levels of violence across the country. PM Mario Monti raised alert levels Sunday at sensitive sites across the country after a rebel group shot and wounded the head of the state-controlled nuclear energy company, Ansaldo Nucleare.

• Wednesday, April 18th 2012 - 22:56 UTC

  EC and Italy call on Argentina to fulfil its international commitments

  

  European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani addressed Argentina's plan to expropriate 51% of the 57.43% share-package Spanish ran Oil Company Repsol owns, during a speech at the European Parliament on Wednesday. From Rome Italy also voiced its concern with events regarding YPF and trade restrictions.

• Sunday, March 25th 2012 - 10:32 UTC

  Italy fears about Spain; Madrid says: ‘total nonsense to make comparisons with Greece”

  

  Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti expressed concern about Spain's public finances and said it would not take much to reignite the Euro zone debt crisis and revive the risk of it spreading to Italy.

• Tuesday, March 13th 2012 - 00:56 UTC

  Italy in recession; Greece receives bail out; Spain the new challenge

  

  Italy is in recession, final data confirmed Monday. Italy's economy shrank 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011, following a 0.2% decline in GDP in the third quarter.