Quotes By Mario Monti

I have always been considered to be the most German among Italian economists, which I always received as a compliment, but was rarely meant to be one.

I hope that my government can help change Italian mentality.

Italy has piled up huge public debt because the successive governments were too close to the life of ordinary citizens, too willing to please the requests of everybody, thereby acting against the interests of future generations.

It is very unusual for a country to ask guys who are not politicians to come and run the country.

Italy needed structural reforms to become more competitive.

I don't believe we're seeing the beginning of a divergence. We have seen a partial divergence on this case.

I believe that in Europe, we have a collective leadership.

There was in Italy a hidden demand for a boring government which would try to tell the truth in non-political jargon.

Like other antitrust agencies we make our assessment of a merger or antitrust case based on its impact on our jurisdiction, and not on the nationality of the companies. This is exactly what the U.S. antitrust agencies, the Justice Department and the FTC, do.

A lot of the American press at the time was saying 'just watch what happens when Bertelsmann tries to buy EMI, that will be a moment of truth that will show the Commission's true colors.' Well, that deal never happened either.

Try to guess my answer to that question, however temptingly you pose it.

In the area of macroeconomic policies, I think we'll see more centralization, like in the budgetary sphere.

I believe that reforms will not really take hold if they do not gradually come into the culture of the people.

The two greatest priorities for my government are tackling tax evasion and corruption.

This is certainly not the first case in which a merger approved in one place hasn't gone through in the other. There was a case last year where the merger between two EU companies was approved here and blocked in the U.S.

It is rather unusual for Italy to be at the forefront of pro-market initiatives.

If governments let themselves be fully bound by the decisions of their parliaments without protecting their own freedom to act, a breakup of Europe would be a more probable outcome than deeper integration.

First of all, I don't like to speak about austerity. I'd prefer to speak of fiscal discipline. Fiscal discipline, in the end, amounts to austerity if it is not accompanied by other policies.

If the euro becomes a factor promoting Europe's drifting apart, then the foundation of the European project is destroyed.

The absence of political personalities in the government will help rather than hinder a solid base of support for the government in parliament and in the political parties because it will remove one ground for disagreement.

Not all Greeks are ready to do whatever is necessary to stay in the euro.

The more the UK feels distanced from European construction the less others are able to benefit from the full influence of the many good things that the UK can help us all to achieve, and therefore there are many areas where I think it would be beneficial to have the UK fully at the table.

If Spain goes under, Italy will come under even more scrutiny.

Italy even in the future will not need aid from the European Financial Stability Fund.

Much of what Germany and France have done in the rescue of Greece has also helped German and French banks, who for a long time were major creditors for Greece and Greek banks.

My aspiration is not to be loved. It is that my government be respected and credible.

Dominant companies have a special responsibility to ensure that the way they do business doesn't prevent competition... and does not harm consumers and innovation.

Europe has to avoid old prejudices and new ones. That means north versus south, rich versus poor.

Reference to the territory and total disregard for the nationality of the companies is of course the best guarantee that competition assessment remain just that and doesn't get affected by trade or other considerations.

I know that speaking with parties, which I do, but not very often, is seen by many as a 'contamination.'