Otto von Bismarck once derided Italians for having a "very large appetite and very bad teeth" and counting for nothing in the affairs of the world. But then the German chancellor had never met Silvio Berlusconi.

While an introspective Europe remains transfixed with sharing out Lisbon treaty positions of power, and critics at home are distracted by his alleged sex scandals and spats with ministers, Italy's premier is successfully staking out national, and personal business, interests on the fringes of the European Union.