MONTI'S ZOOM TO REVENGE.

• Position: Mario Monti

Mario Monti made it very plain he didn't want to leave Brussels. He liked his job as European Commissioner, and he wanted to stay on.

Mr Monti is proud of what he has done in competition policy over the last five years. In an October 22 speech during the tenth European Competition Day in Amsterdam, he listed some of his achievements.

Above all, he focused his remarks on how EU competition policy had produced tangible results for citizens during his time in this office, with lower phone charges, more choice in air travel and cross-border car shopping. The Commission's recent deal with Coca-Cola was, he said, another example of the remedies the EU had promoted to generate real benefits for the consumer.

He also claimed major improvements in anti-trust actions as a result of his overhaul of EU legislation in this field. And he set out his vision of how competition could drive the European economy forward.

He has not enjoyed universal success. Several key competition decisions during his tenure have been overturned by the European Court of Justice. But he has certainly established a respectable - and respected - record.

Good or bad, however, he did not manage to persuade Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of the merits of his re-appointment.

Instead, Berlusconi used his patronage in a bid to ease internal tensions in his own...