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Mario Monti: Cynical Politics of David Cameron

Mario Monti, former Italian Prime Minister and former EU Commissioner for competition, has harshly criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron in his speech on the occasion of being awarded the Global Economy Prize 2016. He said to call a referendum on Britain’s EU membership has been a cynical move, only made to secure Cameron’s power in his Tory party.

Prof. Mario Monti, former Prime Minister of Italy and former European Commissioner for Competition, President of the Luigi-Bocconi-University:

“For all the respect and personal sympathy one might have for David Cameron. That has been a quintessential example of a cynical politic al decision three years ago, to call for the referendum. Can anybody believe, that that was then in the European interest? Or even in the national interest of the UK? Or even in the party interest of the conservative party? No, we are all certain and we were since the very beginning, that this was a way for a leader to secure a stronger leadership within his party. And the risk is now, that may undermine a historic construction and that that gesture, to which I believe we all submitted ourselves too politely, I was then the head of the Italian government, may undo the work of generations of Europeans.”

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More Information on the Global Economy Prize 2016