This is certainly not the first case in which a merger approved in one place hasn't gone through in the other. There was a case last year where the merger between two EU companies was approved here and blocked in the U.S.

I hope that my government can help change Italian mentality.

There is no government in Europe where ministers go through that kind of confirmation process, which in fact is modeled on the way the U.S. cabinet members are confirmed.

I am certain that most Germans have instinctive liking for Italy, just as Italians admire Germans for their many qualities.

There was in Italy a hidden demand for a boring government which would try to tell the truth in non-political jargon.

In the area of macroeconomic policies, I think we'll see more centralization, like in the budgetary sphere.

Italy even in the future will not need aid from the European Financial Stability Fund.