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

As to the question of elected or not elected, each member of the European Commission has been appointed jointly by the governments of the 15 member states, and undergone individual scrutiny and a vote of confidence from the European Parliament.

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

If Spain goes under, Italy will come under even more scrutiny.

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

If governments let themselves be fully bound by the decisions of their parliaments without protecting their own freedom to act, a breakup of Europe would be a more probable outcome than deeper integration.

Italy needed structural reforms to become more competitive.