Euro Problems, Prodi’s Fault

Silvio Berlusconi has followed his coalition partners into the Euro debate, in a move that seems to be more about Prodi than about the Euro.

Mr Berlusconi blamed Romano Prodi, his chief rival and former EU commission head, for negotiating poor terms for Italy's EMU entry while prime minister in the 1990s. "Prodi's euro has screwed everybody. Italians are facing real difficulties," he said at a rally of his Forza Italia movement.

Tacking Eurosceptic is one of the few options open to Silvio, with so much going wrong on the economic front. As his rival in the next election is former EC president Romano Prodi, every complaint about the EU and the Euro will weaken Prodi’s position. The Euro like much of the EU project is fast becoming “The Commons”, and we all know about the tragedy of the commons.