It was a particularly unsavoury row, laced with a dash of Italian spice. Finland wanted to host the European Union’s food safety authority, but Italy, the land of pasta e fagioli, spaghetti alla carbonara and pollo alla potentina, was having none of it.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, scoffed at the thought of Finnish delicacies. “There is absolutely no comparison between culatello [ham] from Parma and smoked reindeer,” Berlusconi reportedly said. It was a spat the Italians won, with the agency safely located in Parma.