Word: berlusconis
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...between Saturday's rhetoric and Monday's reckoning was amply visible in advance. For all the brave-sounding statements about a common response at French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conclave on Saturday, he and Merkel, along with Prime Ministers Gordon Brown of Britain and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, couldn't agree on substantial international measures to shore up Europe's beleaguered financial markets; they in fact had little standing to do so. By Sunday, the national governments in the 27-member E.U., including the 15 that use the euro currency, all seemed concerned first and foremost with the conditions...
...Germany's action came just a day after Merkel had joined Sarkozy, Berlusconi and Brown in grumbling about a similar total savings guarantee announced last week by Ireland, which E.U. competition authorities had already pledged to challenge as a competition-distorting measure. But with Germany, Europe's largest economy, reversing its stand and taking that same route Sunday, Austria said it would follow suit - making it the fourth E.U. nation to guarantee private savings, along with Greece. Denmark and Sweden also raised the limits on savings they would guarantee, and by Monday, even British Finance Minister Alistair Darling was giving...
...competition regulators. In December 2006, then Prime Minister Romano Prodi put the government's 49.9% share of Alitalia on the selling block. Several potential buyers pulled out, and a takeover bid by Air France-KLM was blocked by the unions and the open disdain of then opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi...
...latest offer, which had the blessing of Berlusconi, who's back in power, came from a consortium of Italian businessmen ready to invest up to one billion euros in the more profitable sectors of the company. (The money-losing units would file for bankruptcy protection.) But after unions rejected the plan, the investors pulled their offer off the table...
...that are serious: up to 18,000 employees could suddenly be looking for a job, while key domestic routes vital to the Italian economy would go underserved. In broader terms, Alitalia's demise would be yet another blow to the country's image abroad and to confidence at home. Berlusconi, who has maintained a hard line since negotiations imploded, has banked much of his credibility on resolving the crisis and keeping Alitalia under Italian ownership...