Corruption

I was speaking to a German friend last night who has come to Italy every year for the last 30, but remains astonished at the level of corruption. There are currently major corruption scandals in Campania (which incluides Naples) and Lazio (which includes Rome).

We asked an Italian friend who said the general view was simply that they hadn't got round to investigating the other regions yet.

It is so blatant that regional assistance money from the taxpayers sometimes goes straight into the bank accounts of the ruling caste.

Of course, my German friend suggested, this must stop. I suggested it was highly uinlikely to, and they should have thought about this before getting into an irreversible union with countries which had a very different moral structure.

And that is the fundamental difference here: supporters of the project say that a united Europe is so important that anything can be overcome; opponents (me) say that people are different and it just can't be done.

Incidentally, for the foreign press who leaped on the fact that Lazio is run by Berlusconi's party, the PdL, and this is 'extreme right', they should know that Berluscon''s highest official in the region, the President of Lazio, Renata Polverini, was a trade union leader in her previous job, and the foremost campaigner for women's rights.