Saturday

23rd Sep 2023

Berlusconi stirs trouble in Italy, again

  • Silvio Berlusconi has been convicted for tax fraud and abuse of power (Photo: Council)

Silvio Berlusconi's party is boycotting the ruling coalition over his legal problems at a time when Italy is struggling to restore market confidence.

The Italian parliament suspended its activities on Wednesday (10 July) because of a protest by the People of Freedom Party (PDL) over a decision by the country's supreme court to fast-track Berlusconi's case, which could ban him from ever holding public office again.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

PDL is one of the largest parties in the coalition government run by Social-Democrat Prime Mnister Enrico Letta.

Faced with PDL's political pressure, the supreme court had to issue a statement defending its decision to hear Berlusconi's appeal on 30 July against a tax fraud conviction, instead of late 2013 as was initially planned.

The court said it was forced to call a special meeting in July because Berlusconi's case would otherwise expire on 1 August as it would reach the statute of limitations. Even if his conviction is upheld, he is unlikely to go to jail, as people over 75 years of age are rarely imprisoned in Italy. But he may have to give up his parliament seat and party membership.

Berlusconi's legal problems - ranging from tax evasion to abuse of office and paying for sex with an underage dancer - also caused friction in the previous government coalition, which ultimately collapsed when he withdrew his party's support.

The timing could not be worse, as ratings agency Standard&Poor's on Tuesday downgraded Italy to just two notches above "junk" - a status where countries usually have to ask for a bailout.

Downgrades matter a lot to Italy, which already has a huge foreign debt burden. The lower the rating, the higher the interest rates investors will ask when buying Italian bonds.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund warned Italy of "policy slippages" that could worsen the €2 trillion debt load and asked the European Central Bank to do more to help Italy combat its recession.

Italian court upholds Berlusconi jail sentence

An Italian court Thursday upheld former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's prison sentence in a move that could lead to political instability in the eurozone's third largest economy.

Agenda

Spain's EU-language bid and UN summit This WEEK

While the heads of EU institutions are in New York for the UN high level meeting, Spain's EU presidency will try to convince ministers to make Catalan, Basque, and Galician official EU languages.

Latest News

  1. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  2. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  3. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  4. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  5. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  6. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  7. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  8. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us