Not quite a capital idea

Date: 04/04/1996

Summit hosts always like to make their guests feel at home.

In the Lingotto centre, the former Fiat car factory now transformed into a conference forum, there were briefing rooms for each national delegation. At most summits, these bear the names of the countries concerned, but this time the Italians identified each room by the country's capital city.

Thus the French press were briefed in the Paris room, the Portuguese in the Lisbon room and so on, although the Germans might have raised an eyebrow about being directed to the Berlin room, and Dutch journalists who got lost looking for the Amsterdam room realised they should have been looking for The Hague room.

And the Italians? No point searching for the Rome room, because it did not exist. Perhaps in deference to Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli's home town, the presidency avoided upsetting Turin by promoting the capital's name. Instead, Italians were briefed in the Italia room.