Prodi plan to leave Britain out in EU cold - by John Follain
ITALY’S election victor, Romano Prodi, has unveiled a plan to speed up the integration of a core group of European Union countries that threatens to leave Britain on the sidelines. In his first newspaper interview since he narrowly defeated Silvio Berlusconi last week, Prodi told The Sunday Times he would accelerate measures to bind the main continental members into a tighter alliance and breathe new life into a European constitution.He promised that despite the close result, he would stick to his 289-page manifesto and give Italy stable government for a full five-year term. He added in English with a smile: “There is no alternative.” As befits a former head of the European commission who prides himself on having overseen Italy’s adoption of the euro, Prodi said his priority was to forge an alliance of what he called “the countries most determined to push for a common European policy”.
“We need a strong relationship not just with France and Germany but also with the so-called group of six, countries like Belgium and Luxembourg — but not the Netherlands,” Prodi said.
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