Italy’s New Finance Minister Is a Peace Offering to Europe
Gualtieri is a Brussels insider who can help repair relations after a year of saber rattling.
The Italian flag flies alongside the European Union flag from the Palazzo Chigi in Rome.
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
If Italian Prime Minister-designate Giuseppe Conte wanted to prove his government is one Europe can now do business with, his choice of finance minister might be exhibit A.
Roberto Gualtieri was appointed to the new cabinet on Wednesday after the premier returned to power following the collapse of his previous government. Gualtieri, 53, is a veteran European lawmaker known more in the political bubble in Brussels than in Rome, and that might be crucial in repairing Italian relations with the European Union after a fractious year.