Revolting Europe
Italy
Why this Friday will be Black for Amazon in Italy
Up to 4,000 workers at Amazon’s despatch centre at Piacenza in northern Italy will be striking for better pay and conditions on Black Friday. In addition, the workers organised by the unions Tertiary Ugl, Fisascat-Cisl, Filcams-Cgil, and Uiltucs-Uil decided on an overtime ban until 31 December, hitting Christmas shopping. Amazon’s strong growth justifies a more … Continue reading
London, Amsterdam, Milan: It’s not where the European Medicines Agency is located that is the problem
Vittorio Agnoletto does not regret his native Milan lost out to Amsterdam in the bid to replace London as home of the European Medicines Agency. His concerns lie elsewhere The European Medicines Agency will move to Amsterdam, it has been decided by a draw. This has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Italians … Continue reading
Sicily poll: what’s at stake locally?
Sicilians are going to the polls today in what is the last electoral test before general elections next year. A right-wing alliance led by three time PM and billionaire tax fraud convict Silvio Berlusconi was seen to be slightly ahead of Beppe Grillo’s Five Star movement, with the ‘centre-left’ Democrats trailing in third place thanks … Continue reading
Veneto and Lombardy’s autonomy referenda unpicked
Italians in the Veneto and Lombardy have just voted in non-binding referenda for more autonomy. Giorgio Cremaschi argues they are a fig leaf for a hollowing out of democracy and will drive privatisation. The same political forces that are opposing each other nationally for the government of the country and who clash over the new … Continue reading
Spendthrift Italy: The Case of the Afghan Adventure
Italy’s mission in Afghanistan costs € 1.3 million per day. Starting October 7, 2001, to date there have been few positive results. And the Taliban control half the country. By Enrico Piovesana Seven billion and a half euros over sixteen years, or nearly half a billion a year, one million three hundred thousand euros a … Continue reading
Growth and jobs: the propaganda of the Italian government
Italy’s growth and industrial production are rising, official unemployment is falling and the government is celebrating, but the overwhelming majority of new hires are temporary and part-time. Giorgio Cremaschi on how ‘reforms’ have swollen the Italian precariat. Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni – the former the predecessor to the latter as Italian PM – boast … Continue reading
Italy’s Water Crisis is a Private Affair
The most symbolic evidence of the water crisis facing Italy this summer was the dry fountains in Saint Peter’s Square. Visiting tourists or pilgrims found not a drop of water flowing in the two fontane by 17th-century sculptors Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Sky-high temperatures have crippled farms and left Rome considering water rationing. … Continue reading
Socializing the losses, privatizing the profits: The crisis and rescue of the Veneto banks
By Enrico Grazzini Here’s some lessons from the banking crisis of Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, and the failures of the Italian government and European Banking Union interventions. 1) The Italian Government, the Bank of Italy and the Veneto Region (led by the Northern League) have shown themselves astonishingly incapable, first in monitoring and … Continue reading
Italy’s operation fear failed
Matteo Renzi’s referendum gamble was a huge error of judgement – but the result offers hope for Italian democracy THE banks were going to collapse. The country would exit from the euro single currency. The PM and his government would fall and political chaos was inevitable. Operation Fear was running at full throttle in the … Continue reading
How the public sector is the answer to Italy’s economic crisis and army of graduate unemployed
What would happen to Italy if you decided to recruit eight hundred thousand to one million young and qualified people into public service, asks Maria Luisa Bianco An economy cannot function well without a State that functions well. Since the recovery of the country requires a boost in the efficiency of the public administration, the failure of … Continue reading
Europe’s neo-liberal road began at Mont Pélerin
By Luciano Gallino When I open the windows in the morning these days, my gaze inevitably falls on Mont Pélerin, beyond the lake. It is a hill a few kilometres from Switzerland’s Montreux, known since the twenties for good hotels and a good climate. It is also the birthplace of the Mont Pélerin Society in … Continue reading
After regional election blow, Italy’s Renzi will ‘carry on’ regardless
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised to step up his efforts to ‘reform’ Italy and deal with critics in his party after euro-sceptic populist parties secured successes in local elections. Candidates backed by the Italian PM’s Democratic Party (PD) won five out of seven regions where polls where held on Sunday, maintaining its overall position before … Continue reading
Can we hold the Troika to account for human rights violations?
Not only have the Troika’s austerity policies been an abject failure but in inflicting suffering on millions of people, the three headed beast of the EU-ECB-IMF has severely violated human rights that are recognized by the EU itself. But can the charges stick, asks Luciano Galliano “The governance of the crises in the European Union has led to massive violations … Continue reading
6 reasons why teachers and students are marching in Italy today
Up to half a million teachers, students and parents are expected to march today in Italy protest against PM Matteo Renzi’s education ‘reforms’. The spin is that the changes will offer a ‘good school’ to all in a country that suffers from a dire underinvestment in education – Italy spends less as a proportion of … Continue reading
Renzi one year on: austerity still rules Italy
One year after PM Renzi came to power and three governments since Berlusconi, Italy is still depressed, thanks to unending austerity programmes, finds Leopoldo Nascia* Seven years of crisis and three and half years of political shocks the have brought, in succession, the governments Mario Monti, Enrico Letta and Matteo Renzi, have failed to pull … Continue reading
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