In this interview excerpt, Alfonso Iozzo, senior executive in the Sanpaolo banking group from 1961 to 2006, Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome from 2006 to 2008, member of the European Federalist Movement since 1963 and Vice-Chairman of the Triffin International Foundation, describes the work of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa at the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance from 2006 to 2008.