headquarters_location the union 
___MASK64___ (; ) is the largest city ( and the capital ) of the Emilia - Romagna Region in Northern Italy . It is the seventh most populous city in Italy , located in the heart of a metropolitan area ( officially recognized by the Italian government as a " città metropolitana ") of about one million . The University of ___MASK64___ ( UNIBO ), founded in 1088 , was the first university and is the oldest in the world . The President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic ( Italian : " Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana "), commonly referred to in ___MASK93___ as Presidente del Consiglio and known in English as the Prime Minister of ___MASK93___ , is the head of government of the Italian Republic . The office of Prime Minister is established by Articles 92 through to 96 of the Constitution of ___MASK93___ . The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic after each general election and must have the confidence of the Parliament of ___MASK93___ to stay in office . Romano Prodi , ( ___MASK56___ 9 August 1939 ) is an Italian former politician and economist . He twice served as the Prime Minister of Italy , from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008 . He was also the tenth President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 . He is nicknamed " Il Professore " ( The Professor ) due to his occupation as professor of Economics at the University of ___MASK64___ . The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947 , with 453 votes in favour and 62 against . The text , which has since been amended 15 times , was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No . 298 on 27 December 1947 . The Constituent Assembly was elected by universal suffrage on 2 June 1946 , at the same time as a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy . The Constitution came into force on 1 January 1948 , one century after the Statuto Albertino had been enacted . Although the latter remained in force after Benito Mussolini ' s March on ___MASK95___ in 1922 , it had become devoid of substantive value . The European Union ( EU ) is a political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in ___MASK42___ . It has an area of , and an estimated population of over 510 million . The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states . EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people , goods , services , and capital within the internal market , enact legislation in justice and home affairs , and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries , and regional development . Within the Schengen Area , passport controls have been abolished . A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 , and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency . The euro ( sign : €; code : EUR ) is the official currency of the eurozone , which consists of 19 of the member states of the European Union : ___MASK41___ , Belgium , Cyprus , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , ___MASK54___ , Luxembourg , Malta , the Netherlands , Portugal , Slovakia , Slovenia , and Spain . The currency is also officially used by the institutions of the European Union and four other European countries , as well as unilaterally by two others , and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans . Outside of Europe , a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency . The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ( the executive branch of the : European Union ) and therefore the most powerful officeholder in the EU , ( loosely ) analogous to the role of a country ' s Prime - Minister / Head of Government ( as opposed to the separate role of President of the European Council , who could be seen as the European Union ' s Head of State )  although , unlike a national head of government , the President of the Commission does not have any authority other than as defined by the Treaties , does not determine foreign policy , command troops or raise taxes . The President of the Commission is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed . They determine the Commission ' s policy agenda and all the legislative proposals it produces ( the Commission is the only body that can propose EU laws ). The European Commission ( EC ) is an institution of the European Union , responsible for proposing legislation , implementing decisions , upholding the EU treaties and managing the day - to - day business of the EU . Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in ___MASK90___ , pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate . An electoral ___MASK79___ may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement , electoral agreement , electoral coalition or electoral bloc . It is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections . Each of the parties within the ___MASK79___ has its own policies but chooses temporarily to put aside differences in favour of common goals and ideology . On occasion , an electoral ___MASK79___ may be formed by parties with very different policy goals , which agree to pool resources to stop a particular candidate or party from gaining power . A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups , during which they cooperate in joint action , each in their own self - interest , joining forces together for a common cause . This ___MASK79___ may be temporary or a matter of convenience . A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant . Possibly described as a joining of ' factions ', usually those with overlapping interests rather than opposing . Head of government is a generic term used for either the highest or second highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state , a federated state , or a self - governing colony , ( commonly referred to as countries , nations or nation - states ) who often presides over a cabinet , a group of ministers or secretaries who lead executive departments . The term " head of government " is often differentiated from the term " head of state ", ( e . g . as in article 7 of the ___MASK7___ Convention on the Law of Treaties , article 1 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons , including Diplomatic Agents and the United Nations protocol list ), as they may be separate positions , individuals , and / or roles depending on the country . A head of state ( or chief of state ) is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state . In developing the current Constitution of ___MASK63___ ( 1958 ), former French president Charles de Gaulle said the head of state should embody " the spirit of the nation " (""). In some countries , typically those with parliamentary governments , the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead that does not actually guide day - to - day government activities and may not even be empowered to exercise any kind of political authority ( e . g ., Queen ___MASK98___ II in the ___MASK65___ ). In other countries , the head of state is also the head of government , such as in the U . S ., where the president is both a public figurehead and the actual highest ranking political leader who , in practice , oversees the executive branch . The European Council "( French : Conseil européen )", charged with defining the EU ' s overall political direction and priorities , is the institution of the European Union ( EU ) that comprises the heads of state or government of the member states , along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission . The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings . Established as an informal ___MASK40___ in 1975 , the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon . Its current President is Donald Tusk . The Union ( Italian : L ' Unione ) was an heterogenous centre - left political and electoral ___MASK79___ of political parties in Italy . The Union was led by Romano Prodi , Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008 , and former President of the European Commission .