The Rome meeting and Mont’s mediation to save the euro. – “Ten days to save the euro” Mario Monti spoke to the foreign press before the 29 June EU meeting and the day before his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merke, French President François Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. In an interview to a number of major papers, published on June 22, the Italian Prime Minister underscored the need for concrete action to save the single currency. : Suddeutsche Zeitung reported Monti’s appeal for speedy measures to stop speculation (Monti fürchtet heftige Spekulationsangriffe auf Euro-Länder) and El Pais ran an article on Italy’s proposal for mediation vis-á-vis European Financial Stability Facility intervention. Finally, The Guardian (Eurozone crisis: Mario Monti defends Italy’s record) and Le Monde (“La rigueur n’était pas une volonté européenne, mais une nécessité nationale”) discussed Italy’s efforts to settle its finances. And while the importance of the meeting in Rome for the future of the euozone was emphasized by other articles (Expansion, June 22 – Merkel, Hollande, Monti y Rajoy buscan hoy una solución común a la crisis, Le Figaro, June 21 – Angela Merkel face à l’europe de Sud ), the foreign press also focused on the recent measures passed by the government of experts, in particular those adopted to stimulate growth ” (Bloomberg Businessweek June 16 – Italy moves to streamline economy, boost growth June e Wall Street Journal, June 21 – Review & Outlook: Employment, Italian Style*).
Culture, luxury market and food – The foreign press still packaged articles on Italian life style between the economic news and reports on Euro 2012. Folha de S. Paulo ran a piece on the design of Antonio Citterio’s multiple forms (June 21 – Coleção desvenda as multiplicidades de Antonio Citterio), while the International Herald Tribune flew to La Scala for the latest production by Mario Martone (June 19 – Verdi Double Dip, Poison on the Side). And where would we be without some reference to luxury brands? Le Figaro profiled Giulio Pastore, in charge of the European division of Maserati (June 16 – Giulio Pastore, l’homme de l’accélération chez Maserati*). Finally, other articles were dedicated to the melding of culture and business: Le Journal du Quebec reported on the new opening of the food store Eataly (June 17 giugno – La bouffe italienne à son meilleur*), and Les Echos discussed Lavazza’s strategy for leadership in the coffee market (June 18 – Lavazza, tout le café mais rien que le café).
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