In a highly unusual development, Italy has found itself in isolation within the EU on the eve of next weekend's EU summit in Laeken, Belgium, following the Italian refusal on Thursday to back a landmark agreement implementing a common EU arrest warrant.
Italy was the only member country to veto a package intended to introduce fast-track extradition procedures for 32 serious cross-border crimes including terrorist acts as well as murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, corruption, xenophobia, trafficking of stolen cars and crimes against the environment.
Expressing reservations about both the effectiveness and the interpretation of such a widespread measure, the Italian Justice Minister, Mr Roberto Castelli, proposed the arrest warrant be limited to terrorism-related activities only. Following the Belgian EU Presidency's rejection of a compromise formula proposed yesterday by Mr Castelli, the issue is now likely to dominate at least the preparations for next weekend's summit if not the summit itself.
Although the Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, on Wednesday expressed his concern about "this acceleration towards a common judicial space when there hasn't been one towards laws and rights", the fact that the Italian government lobbied hard to exclude crimes such as corruption and fraud inevitably prompted speculation that the Prime Minister had moved to protect his own interests.
For much of the last decade, Mr Berlusconi has been and continues to be investigated by Italian magistrates on a series of fraud and corruption charges related to his business activities. Furthermore, last April, Spanish prosecutor, Mr Baltasar Garzon, asked the Council of Europe to lift Mr Berlusconi's immunity from prosecution so that he might investigate him on charges of tax fraud regarding his involvement in Spanish TV channel, Telecinco.
In Brussels on Thursday, shortly after the Italian veto, the Belgian Justice Minister, Mr Marc Verwilgen, was asked if Mr Berlusconi's own legal troubles could have influenced Italy's vote: "Were there other reasons? I can't answer. I would only be guessing and I don't want to guess," replied the Belgian minister.
The Italian EU veto comes at the end of a stormy week in Italian politics when Mr Castelli's announcement in parliament of controversial plans to reform the justice system prompted lawyers to express concern that the Berlusconi government may wish to undermine the autonomy of the magistrature. On Wednesday, the governing body of the National Association of Judges and Public Prosecutors (ANM) resigned in protest against both the reform plans and the tone of Mr Castelli's speech during which he attacked sections of the magistrature.