Italian minister calls for return of lira

By Alex Singleton | 4 June 2005

From The Guardian:

The cause of European unification yesterday suffered another swingeing blow when one of the parties in Silvio Berlusconi's governing coalition threw its weight behind a campaign to pull Italy out of the euro.

Roberto Maroni, Mr Berlusconi's social security minister and a joint acting leader of the Northern League, said his party would start collecting signatures for a referendum on the issue later this month. He also appealed for the process of ratifying the EU constitution to be halted.

Days after it was reported that senior German ministers had discussed the disintegration of the single currency, Mr Maroni pledged to start collecting signatures for a referendum later this month. He branded the euro a "disaster" which was product of a "European model whose failure we are witnessing with concern"...

Mr Maroni held up Britain as a model to be copied. "It is growing [and] developing while keeping its own currency," he said.