“This time the situation is very dangerous. The pension agreement is really difficult. The moment is dramatic, I would call it that." The leader of the League does not mince words, Umberto Bossi, who this morning admitted that the Berlusconi government is now on the brink of crisis. The Senatùr does not accept compromises: “We don't make technical governments – he said as he entered Montecitorio-. If the government falls, we must go to elections”.
Ma the Brussels ultimatum does not change: by tomorrow "the EU is expecting a letter from Berlusconi with specific commitments on the rapid growth measures that Italy intends to adopt - said the spokesman for the president of the Commission Josè Barroso - and so far it has not yet received any indication from Rome ”.
Time is running out and the room for maneuver is now minimal: last night's Council of Ministers and the majority summit that took place this morning in Palazzo Grazioli ended in nothing. The clash within the majority once again we are playing on the table of social security, a key point of the reforms for growth loudly requested by Europe: on the table, the raising of the retirement age to 67 years and the cancellation of seniority allowances.
Despite the pressure from the premier, the Carroccio's number one continues in the crusade carried on throughout the summer: “It's not possible, 67 years old... We can't do it to please the Germans. People kill us“. Bossi then attributes the responsibility for the crisis to the EU: "Europe wants to make Berlusconi take a step back". It is not enough: "The letter from the ECB“, the one signed by Jean Claude Trichet and Mario Draghi, “it's a shot" against the Prime Minister.
To try to restore order to the institutional chaos, he intervened once again Giorgio Napolitano: ” For Italy – said the Head of State – it is time to define the 'new decisions' in terms of development and structural reforms of great importance' announced yesterday in the official statement by the Prime Minister".
The President of the Republic also referred to the indirect criticisms received in recent days from Germany and France, stigmatizing the "inappropriate and objectionable public expressions, on the sidelines of institutional meetings between the heads of government, lack of confidence in the commitments undertaken by Italy cannot make us lose sight of the substance of the issues and challenges we have before us”. No one can "threaten the independence of our country or is able to make claims as commissioner", because "today more than ever, we are in the same boat in a stormy sea. Each country – Napolitano concluded – must do its part and we must mutually guarantee the indispensable solidarity”.
