If the euro becomes a factor promoting Europe's drifting apart, then the foundation of the European project is destroyed.

My aspiration is not to be loved. It is that my government be respected and credible.

Europe has to avoid old prejudices and new ones. That means north versus south, rich versus poor.

I believe that reforms will not really take hold if they do not gradually come into the culture of the people.

The Italian economy has been held back for decades.

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.

A lot of the American press at the time was saying 'just watch what happens when Bertelsmann tries to buy EMI, that will be a moment of truth that will show the Commission's true colors.' Well, that deal never happened either.