EUROPEAN DIARY: Most of the 1,400-strong Brussels press corps may not like Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi much - but some are admitting privately they will miss the man.
Erratic, combustible and theatrical are perhaps not the personality traits that the voting public want to see in their leaders but for hacks desperate to liven up long, drawn-out EU talks on institution-building, Berlusconi was a breath of fresh air.
Whether he was likening the German socialist MEP Martin Schulz to a Nazi or suggesting that his "playboy charms" had persuaded Finnish president Tarja Halonen not to object to the Italian city of Parma beating a Finnish rival to host the European Food Safety Authority, Berlusconi generally made good news copy.
His replacement, Romano Prodi, is well known in Brussels but not much loved by the media. As president of the European Commission, Prodi was criticised for rambling speeches and a lack of communication skills. Even the sober Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung labelled Prodi "the chief bore" at EU summits.
"When Mr Prodi speaks, the top politicians can be seen examining their shoes. The mild-mannered former prime minister of Italy is difficult to understand even in Italian," chided the German daily.
But despite the unappetising prospect of listening to his lengthy speeches, most Brussels-based diplomats and policy analysts are looking forward to a steadier and more predictable approach to European issues from Prodi's new government in Italy.
"There should be a greater consistency in policy, more engagement in European issues and a better knowledge of the dossier," says Antonio Missiroli, chief policy analyst at the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Centre.
"Berlusconi was mercurial, siding with France and Germany when it came to Italy's failure to adhere to the stability pact but siding with Tony Blair and the US in supporting the Iraq war."
Berlusconi, although never becoming an out-and-out Eurosceptic, governed with the backing of the anti-EU Northern League and occasionally bashed Brussels for domestic political gain. He once famously lashed out at the European currency, blaming it for rising prices in Italy with the comment: "Prodi's euro screwed us all."
Therefore, it was no surprise that the pro-EU leaders of France, Luxembourg, Spain and the commission rushed to congratulate Prodi on his
victory last week, even before the official results were announced.
In contrast, Tony Blair and President Bush held back, preferring to wait until a vote recount was completed.
Jacques Chirac made no secret of his support for Prodi, expressing a wish that Italy and France would "reinforce their ties and co-operation in the European project".
Commission president José Manuel Barroso said the new administration would be "in the great Italian tradition, a government that is enthusiastic for Europe".
Asked in an interview with Le Monde after his victory about his foreign policy priorities, Prodi did not disappoint the EU enthusiasts, pledging to support EU integration and the relaunch of a shortened EU constitution after the French presidential election.
"As an important European power, Italy's weight and strength resides in its capacity to participate in the development of EU policies," said Prodi, who will know most of the key EU personalities from his time in Brussels.
Pat Cox, president of the European Movement, who worked closely with both Prodi and Berlusconi while president of the European Parliament, said: "People in European circles believe that Prodi's election victory signals a deeper engagement by Italy in the key strategic projects in Europe.
"He is even more uber-European than the content of the EU constitution and close to traditional Italian European federalists." But Cox believes that domestic concerns will shape Prodi's period as prime minister.
"Prodi will be instinctively committed to Europe but he will have to be exceptionally focused on the domestic economy in Italy."
Italy's economic malaise is severe. In a recent World Economic Forum survey of competitiveness it ranked 47th, behind states such as Jordan, Latvia and Tunisia. Its ageing population and high debt levels compound the bad economic situation.
The European Commission has repeatedly warned Italy about breaching the EU growth and stability pact, which sets a budget deficit ceiling of 3 per cent of gross domestic product. Prodi inherits an Italian budget deficit that is expected to be 4-4.5 per cent of GDP by 2007.
Missiroli believes this may be one area where the commission and council of finance ministers could cut Prodi some slack. "Ecofin could give him more time to meet the budget deficit target . . . perhaps they could give him an extra year, something they would be unlikely to give Berlusconi," he says.
But even if the EU is willing to give Prodi more time to fulfil his election slogan of "getting Italy moving again", there are concerns his coalition will find it difficult to make the necessary structural reforms required to turn around the economy.
"Prodi has the virtues of being decent, honest and intelligent," says Charles Grant, director of the liberal think tank Centre for European Reform, in London.
"Sadly, however, there is not much reason to believe that his coalition - assuming, as is likely, that it forms a government - will tackle Italy's deep-rooted structural problems any better than the right."