Silvio Berlusconi leader. He also added that Italy will probably be ranked last in the European Union in the upcoming edition of the RWB press freedom index. One of Berlusconi's strongest critics in the media outside Italy is the British weekly "The Economist" (nicknamed by Berlusconi ""The Ecommunist""), which in its issue of 26 April 2001 carried a title on its front cover, 'Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy'. The war of words between Berlusconi and "The Economist" has gained notoriety, with Berlusconi taking the publication to court in Rome and "The Economist" publishing letters against him. The magazine claimed
Political groups of the European Parliament incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees which are not afforded to Independent MEPs. For a Group to be formally recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure. That Rule lays down the minimum criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can theoretically create any Group they like. This was put to the test when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" (ITS). This generated controversy and