The EU loses its soul in Italy

The Italian police have begun the process of fingerprinting members of the Sinti and Roma minorities in Milan, Naples and Rome. In a leading article the Spanish daily El País criticises the EU's failure to take action against this "xenophobic" and "racist" measure: "The government under Berlusconi has crossed one of the inviolable borders of the constitutional state with this dangerous legal instrument. It is not that [Berlusconi] is violating the law of equality by interpreting it differently for different groups. He has gone much further to create a new law that does not even apply to other Italians. ... The initiatives of Berlusconi and his government also show that it is impossible to agree a common policy in areas like immigration while he is at the core of the EU. ... The European Union, an enterprise inspired by law and justice, is delivering a sad performance in this matter and losing the soul that has given it its meaning in the 50 years of its existence."

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Minorities, » Italy, » Europe

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, July 9, 2008