Brussels, 12/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 12 April, Italy finally adopted the European arrest warrant fifteen months later than the date foreseen for entry into force of this text to facilitate extradition. The Italian Parliament has completed the procedure for transposition of the European arrest warrant despite votes from La Lega Nord, the party under Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, which still opposed the text. This is “an important day. (…) Italy has returned to the heart of the European fight against crime”, said the vice-president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini, responsible for justice and home affairs, and the former Foreign Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The European Commission had not, on Tuesday, any comment to make on whether the Italian text was conform to the basic text of the European arrest warrant. The Ansa agency reports that centre-left deputies, who abstained, deplored the fact that the Italian text “blatantly contradicts the spirit of the EU initiative, which aims at making judicial cooperation between Member States easier”.