Rome - Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said that his government "took no pleasure" in Ireland's No vote in the Nice Treaty referendum, adding that EU enlargement remained a "moral duty", writes Paddy Agnew.
Mr Berlusconi was speaking in the Senate prior to winning his first confidence vote, 175 to 133, since taking office last week. Earlier Mr Berlusconi had outlined his government programme, pointing out that draft legislation had already been drawn up for measures including fiscal incentives for industry, the resolution of his celebrated "conflict of interests" by August and the start-up of some major public works projects.
In his programme speech, Mr Berlusconi also reassured Italy's senior partners about the continuity of Italian foreign policy (on NATO, the EU's stability pact and relations with the US).
