Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two larg... Explore this topic

Mario Monti is an Italian economist who has been the Prime Minister of Italy since 2011, leading a government of technocrats in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti resigned as Prime Minister on 21 December 2012 after the passing of his second Budget, and will remain as ... Explore this topic

The European sovereign debt crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to repay or re-finance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. In 1992, members of the European Union signed th... Explore this topic

Silvio Berlusconi is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, media proprietor, and Prime Minister of Italy (President of the Council of Ministers of Italy), a position he has held three times. He is the leader of the Forza Italia political movement, a centre-right party he founde... Explore this topic

The eurozone, officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of 17 European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender. The eurozone currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France,... Explore this topic

The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic is the head of government of the Italian Republic. While the office is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems, the Italian prime minister has less authority ... Explore this topic

In economics, austerity describes policies used by governments to reduce budget deficits during adverse economic conditions. These policies can include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of the two. Austerity policies may be attempts to demonstrate governments' liquidi... Explore this topic

Angela Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany and the head of the political party CDU in Germany. In addition to being the first female German Chanchellor, she is also considered by Forbes magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world. Explore this topic

The politics of Italy is conducted through a parliamentary, democratic republic with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Council of Ministers, which is led by the President of the Council of Ministers, referred to as "Presidente del Consiglio... Explore this topic

The Treaty of Lisbon or Lisbon Treaty is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union. The Lisbon Treaty was signed by the EU member states on 13 December 2007, and entered into force on 1 December 2009. It a... Explore this topic