Questions about the voting system in USA

[Occhidiangela]

Thanks for the insight. I recall one of the concerns about adopting the euro being the dominant position of the Bundesbank. It is no surprise that, like the UN, the ability to apply sanctions is not infrequently hamstrung in the case of "the big dudes on the block." Is the general sentiment in UK still the same regarding the euro as it was back in, say, 1997?

Growing pains, perhaps?

Ah, the EC. OK, Romano Prodi was the PM in Italy for most of the time when I lived there, his background being IIRC finance and economics. As I recall the election that knocked him out of the box, the coalition that helped put him into power was generally centrist and a bit of left, to include the Italian Communist Party. Late in his term, I was aware that the Communist Party (7-11% of Parliament at the time I think) basically left his coalition over a few matters, labor issues I think, that they felt he had backed down on.

So, he and his 19 colleagues appear to serve in much the same way a US cabinet officer serves. He is appointed, or selected from a series of candidates, by the heads of governments, but must pass the Parliamentary approval process in order to be approved.