No compromise on coffee

Date: 30/01/1997

Those worried about the creation of a European super-state crushing linguistic and cultural diversity may have a point.

Renato Ruggiero, whose previous career included spells as a senior European Commission official and his country's ambassador to the EU before he became director-general of the World Trade Organisation in May 1995, revealed a terrible secret during an interview with European Voice.

“I have spent so many years outside my country that I have completely forgotten espresso,” he confessed, adding: “I only drink American coffee because I don't want to have to compromise.”