ROME: An aura of apprehension and scepticism is accompanying Italy’s imminent takeover of the European Union presidency, say diplomatic and political sources around Europe.

The presidency of the 15-member Union, which rotates from country to country every six months, is traditionally an ordinary affair. But these are exceptional times for Europe.

And the next EU president, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is arguably the most exceptional government leader the continent has known in decades.

Italy’s richest man commands widespread support at home. But allegations of wrongdoing stemming from his vast business empire have severely tarnished his reputation abroad.

Last month, he became Italy’s first-ever serving prime minister to appear in court to defend himself from corruption charges. And just days ago, his ruling centre-right majority approved a controversial bill granting him judicial immunity, just as his trial was entering the home stretch.

In a May 8 editorial, the influential London-based weekly The Economist described him as “unfit to lead Europe”.

The Economist’s view may be deemed extreme, but it is substantially shared by several political experts and diplomatic sources.

Italy’s premier is currently busy adding the finishing touches to a five-point plan for the EU presidency, which it will take over from Greece on July 1.

One of his main concerns is a new EU constitution currently being drafted in Brussels, which he hopes will be signed in Rome next spring.

Other priorities include boosting the continent’s faltering economy, easing the entry of 10 new members, advancing a common EU foreign policy and increasing border controls to help deal with the influx of illegal immigrants who enter the Union.

The plan has been described as “highly ambitious” by one Scandinavian diplomat based in Rome, and EU experts fear Berlusconi is not the right person to push through such an ambitious plan.

“There is a general sense of distrust towards him, mainly because of the way the international media has portrayed him in dealing with his own judicial woes,” said Daniel Keohane, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank.

According to Keohane, one of the key aspects of holding the EU’s rotating presidency is a capacity to set the agenda.

“In Berlusconi’s case, however, people are suspicious because they don’t exactly know where he stands. He often gives the impression of wanting to merely go with the flow,” Keohane said.

Keohane argues that effective diplomatic skills are essential, as the EU president “must be seen to be neutral”, but experts in Rome say Berlusconi cannot be described as a master of diplomacy.

Just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, he caused an international uproar by describing Western civilization as superior to that of Muslim countries.

More recently, he irked the French by contravening standard EU policy in refusing to meet Palestinian authorities during a diplomatic mission to the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said one of Italy’s priorities will be restoring relations between the United States and Europe in the aftermath of the Iraqi war, which several European heavyweights opposed.

Berlusconi has a tough job ahead of him, says James Walston, head of International Relations at the American University of Rome.

“Berlusconi gets on well on a personal level with both US President George W. Bush and British Premier Tony Blair. But it will take more than a pat on the back to restore relations between Europe and the United States,” Walston said.

EU experts in Brussels are also concerned that Berlusconi might use his new international leverage to resolve his domestic problems.

Recently, he forced the EU to renegotiate milk quotas to please one of his coalition’s most restive allies, the Northern League. And a proposal by his Treasury Minister, Giulio Tremonti, to kick-start the European economy through public works projects irked the Commission, which had been working on a similar plan for months.

Italy also urgently needs to reform its generous pension system, which accounts for nearly 14 per cent of the country’s national income.

One diplomat in Rome said he feared Berlusconi might attempt to force the EU to push through such reforms so that he may be able to tell a hostile electorate that it was being “imposed by Brussels”.

But perhaps the trickiest aspect facing Italy’s presidency concerns a new European constitution, to be debated by government leaders at a conference in Italy next October.

Its key proposals include a new full-time president of the EU and an EU foreign minister or foreign policy representative. Several leaders, like Britain’s Tony Blair, have already expressed scepticism, saying they are not prepared to give up their independent sovereign rights.—dpa