Italy and the Euro
In Italy, the euro coin designs were subject to scrutiny by a national technical and artistic committee before being presented to the nation on RAI UNO, Italy's largest national television station. A different design has been selected for each denomination, chosen from masterpieces by Italy's famous artists.
Italian euro coins have a design unique to each denomination, though there is a common theme of famous Italian works of art from one of Italy's renowned artists. Each coin is designed by a different designer, from the 1 cent to the 2 euro coin they are: Eugenio Driutti, Luciana De Simoni, Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini, Claudia Momoni, Maria Angela Cassol, Roberto Mauri, Laura Cretara and Maria Carmela Colaneri. All designs feature the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint and the overlapping letters 'RI' for Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic). There are no Italian euro coins dated earlier than 2002, even though they were certainly minted earlier, as they were first distributed to the public in December 2001.
Italy attracted a great deal of criticism from its European partners over its public spending and its large
debt. On entering the eurozone the Italian economy was the most stretched of all countries by the EU's convergence criteria for membership. By pushing through several reforms, most notably overhauling public finances, the then centre-left government was able to join the euro. However other EU members felt that Italy still had some way to go to meet its' obligations.
2018 Italy 60 Years of the Ministry of Health
