Barbara Spinelli
Born in Rome in 1946, Barbara Spinelli co-founded the daily La Repubblica and worked for Corriere della Sera until joining La Stampa, where she has been writing editorials since 1985. Spinelli, who took her degree in philosophy and specialised as a journalist in Central and Eastern Europe, is the daughter of Altiero Spinelli, a leading anti-Fascist and founder of the European Federalist Movement that was to give rise to the Union of European Federalists.
Updated: 24 November 2010
The EU is becoming a corrupt church where Germany rules by a dogmatic economic orthodoxy. Politics must take back control with a protestant schism coming from grassroots initiatives, argues an Italian columnist. 
The institutional and European democratic crises are pushing leaders towards tricky choices in terms of governability. Would it not perhaps be better to move toward new forms of participation that better match citizens' needs? 
Remarkably for a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Europe has been at war for close to 15 years: in the Balkans, in Afghanistan, in Libya, and today in the Sahel. However, an Italian editorialist argues, European intervention has consistently been marked by an absence of long-term vision. 
The anti-Western demonstrations in Arab countries and the turn the "Arab Spring" is taking in several countries are shouting out a challenge to Europe. But Europe, looking inward to its economic and institutional crisis, prefers to shirk its responsibilities in the Mediterranean and to rely on the – helpless – United States. 
On the eve of an umpteenth “last chance summit,” leaders of the EU’s 27 member states are continuing to stick to their guns, vainly hoping that the crisis will simply resolve itself. In their inability to come to terms with an increasingly negative situation, they are a lot like the American generals who continued to bombard Vietnam when they knew the war was already lost. 
Instead of treating Greek officials as outcasts and their constituents like the plague, European leaders, and particularly Germans, would be better off listening. Because, in attempting to prioritise the needs of the economy over those of democracy, they are undermining the Union’s foundations. 
Drive Greece out of the euro, and build a federal Europe behind a protective firewall? Italian columnist Barbara Spinelli warns that this idea, which appears to be gaining ground with a number of European leaders, would not only fail to resolve the crisis but would also put an end to Europe’s common culture. 
Europe must learn to co-operate with Germany, argues veteran Italian columnist Barbara Spinelli. Despite a reputation for being excessively stern and power-hungry, German rigour is nevertheless the only viable alternative to the Chinese model. 
The financial crisis has exposed the deception and subterfuge of politics, yet the leaders of Europe continue to deny the obvious. Only honesty, and the courage to tell the truth, can save Europe. 
Nicolas Sarkozy defiance of Europe — loudly supported by Silvio Berlusconi — isn't just about the Roma, it is an attack on the community's core values and the right of the public to know what is being done in their name, says columnist Barbara Spinelli 
Contrary to its leaders’ glib pronouncements, the Lisbon Treaty and the bailout mechanism won’t suffice to safeguard Europe’s future. What we need is deeper integration to ward off new crises, urges editorialist Barbara Spinelli. 
The African migrant workers’ riots in the province of Gioia Tauro, in Calabria, after two of them were shot with airguns, once again lifts the curtain on their deplorable living and working conditions. Now required to leave the city, these illegal immigrants in Rosarno as elsewhere, are often the only people to rise up against the mafias that reign supreme in several regions.