Italy drops opposition to the ROK-EU free trade agreement, allowing for unanimous passage

A little horsetrading with Rome — delay of the FTA by six months to allay concerns about the impact on the local car industry — has brought Italy into the fold, providing unanimous acceptance of the FTA. I wonder if the hold-up had something to do with a certain controversial 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup match. Hmm... Payback is a biz killer.

The FTA is now scheduled to go into effect next July, and this may put pressure on US lawmakers to pass the pending KORUS FTA.

I have a question, though: Which Italian-made cars compete with which Korean-made cars?

Oh, the horror!