By Emily Smith - 22nd December 2003
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has instigated yet another row with his arch political rival Romano Prodi, this time over the euro.
In his end of year press conference Berlusconi said that the euro had caused prices to go up in Italy.
"Some shop keepers have rounded prices up", he told journalists.
To which European Commission president Prodi retorted “it is time to put an end to these falsehoods”.
Asked if perhaps prices had gone up in Italy, even if they had remained unchanged elsewhere in Europe, Prodi responded dryly that “there was a lack of surveillance, and it was lacking in Italy, not in France and Germany”.
Berlusconi also said at his press conference that he is confident of winning the next Italian election – and declared his intention to be Italian prime minister for another ten to 15 years.
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