EU debt burdens seem to exponentially increase with time, as the ECB (contrary to principles enshrined) hoovers up gov/corporate debt gone bad from their pals. Classic case of "Socialising losses, while privatising profits!"
Now, why might the British PM choose to make a big milestone speech in Florence, of all the places? Florence seems far away from the regular drinking holes of UK/EU political glitterati. Who were the intended addressees? Apparently, no one of worth was present there.
http://gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-florence-speech-a-new-era-of-cooperation-and-partnership-between-the-uk-and-the-eu
It was here, more than anywhere else, that the Renaissance began – a period of history that inspired centuries of creativity and critical thought across our continent and which in many ways defined what it meant to be European.
A period of history whose example shaped the modern world. A period of history that teaches us that when we come together in a spirit of ambition and innovation, we have it within ourselves to do great things.
That shows us that if we open our minds to new thinking and new possibilities, we can forge a better, brighter future for all our peoples.
And that is what I want to focus on today. For we are moving through a new and critical period in the history of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union.
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/florence
Florence was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. The language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Almost all the writers and poets in Italian literature of the golden age are in some way connected with Florence.
Florentine money financed the development of industry all over Europe. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War. They similarly financed the papacy.
http://politico.eu/article/uk-government-protocol-florence-speech
UK has booked the Santa Maria Novella, a church and cloisters dating to 1340. The site served as the venue for the Council of Florence, convened in 1439 to bring about the union of the Greek and Latin churches, and more recently was a headquarters for the military police.
Theresa May has no official host in Florence, where she will give a speech that the PMO has billed as a milestone in the Brexit process. The unusual arrangements around the speech only serve to highlight the oddness of the event itself — a head of government giving a major speech in a foreign country outside of any international forum and without the high-level involvement of the host country’s government.
"We want to show London that negotiations take place in Brussels and only there" -- Italian official
http://express.co.uk/news/politics/857354/Brexit-speech-why-Florence-Theresa-May-latest-news-Italy
The British PM decided to give her Brexit speech in Florence because the city is celebrated as the birthplace of the Renaissance.
Theresa May's Brexit speech had a Renaissance theme, heralding a rebirth and a glorious new era of UK-EU co-operation in the future.
Her symbolic choice of venue - a city made wealthy by international trade and banking - is also a nod to the kind of free-trading relationship Britain wants with the EU after Brexit.
Britain has historic close ties with what was then the city state of Florence stretching back for centuries, largely due to trade.
Mrs May gave the speech at the Santa Maria Novella instead of the Palazzo Vecchio, which is the scene of the EU’s annual State of the Union speech.
So the grand, gothic, Santa Maria Novella church in central Florence appears a fitting venue to attempt to heal divides which appear to have deepened since the beginning of tough negotiations in summer.
Today the square in front of the basilica is a picture of European unity, with tourists and Italians rubbing shoulders over gelato, Peronis and pasta.
And in the mid-15th Century it was the scene of the Council of Florence, gathered to bring about the reunion of the Greek and Latin churches.
It was the venue for one of the first attacks against Galileo, who along with other mathematicians was accused of heresy by Tommaso Caccini in December 1614 for claiming the earth moves around the sun.
The Renaissance man was of course proved right in the end..
The church is also home to a number of notable artworks by Renaissance artists including Botticelli, Masaccio and Giotto.
The Italian city is the birthplace of that movement, widely seen as the cultural catalyst for the beginning of modern European history.
http://express.co.uk/news/politics/857399/Brexit-news-EU-Michel-Barnier-coded-message-May-Florence-speech
The EU’s chief negotiator quoted the infamous Italian politician and writer Niccolo Machiavelli, who one reputedly said that “where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great”.
Machiavelli, who became renowned for his scheming and duplicity, was born in Florence and spent much of his life there as a senior official charged with diplomatic affairs.
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