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IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 ISSN 2532-6570 © 2019 IAI 1 This article isthefourth in a number of IAICommentaries published in theframework previously worked at Agenzia Apcom (currently TMNews) and Reuters. States. Lorenzo Robustelli isajournalist and director of Eunews in Brussels, having Rosa Balfour isasenior transatlantic fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United Policy (ELIAMEP)and theBarcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI),the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign of theMercator European Dialogue project, run by theGerman Marshall Fund (GMF), citizens say theywould vote tostay country where fewer thanhalf of the Today, it standsout asthe only EU most sceptical. European integration toone of the pro-EU countries inthehistory of being one of the most enthusiastically During the2010s, swungfrom sentiments. Italians didnot,however. Europeans rediscovered theirpro-EU the European Union, amajority of in theUnited Kingdom on leaving Since theshockof the2016referendum Italy andtheEU Public opinion unhinged: by Rosa Balfour andLorenzo Robustelli with Europe? Why DidItaly Fall Out of Love European Union”,European in 2 not know. did they said cent 32 per and to cent leave, EU, per 19 the would in vote to stay said cent 49 per poll, this closer-to-the-citizens-closer-to-the-ballot at-your-service/en/be-heard/eurobarometer/ 21, 2019), p. Parliament Eurobarometer Surveys Ballot”, to in the Closer Citizens, 1 even less thantheEU, tend totrusttheirnational institutions possibly due tothefactthat Italians decision toleave theunion altogether, EU would translate into an eventual assumed that such low support for the in theunion.

Philipp Schulmeister et al., “Closer to the to the “Closer al., et Schulmeister Philipp , “Public opinion in the the in opinion “Public Commission, European http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ 1 While it should notbe Standard Eurobarometer 90 Standard 2 it isatrendthat , No. 91.1 (April (April , No. 91.1 European European . In . In

Why Did Italy Fall Out of Love with Europe?

Figure 1 | Italians’ trust in the EU © 2019 IAI

Figure 2 | Europeans’ trust in the EU ISSN 2532-6570

Source: Authors’ elaborations based on Eurobarometer Interactive, http://ec.europa.eu/ commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Chart/index.

requires urgent attention. faith in their leaders’ ability to manage the economy. Many recovered some of The impact of the 2008 financial crisis that trust, but in Italy this has not been on Europe led many Europeans to lose the case. In 2008 the percentage of Italians who said they did not trust the (Autumn 2018), p. 43-44, 90-94, https://ec.europa. EU overtook that of those who said they eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ did (see Figure 1). For the past eight survey/getsurveydetail/instruments/standard/ surveyky/2215. In this poll, 36 per cent of Italians years, far more Italians have said they said they trusted the EU as a whole and the do not trust the EU than those who do. European Commission, 32 per cent the Council of the EU, 44 per cent the European Parliament, This pattern is not unique. Figure 2 and 28 per cent and 27 per cent their national government and parliament respectively. summarises the average historical IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

2 Why Did Italy Fall Out of Love with Europe?

pattern of trust in the EU across however, should not be considered member states. Trust in the EU in many an outlier. Its unique history should European countries faltered around the not overshadow the fact that Italy was time of the Eurozone crisis and other in many respects ahead of the curve crises of the past decade. Italy was not with regard to the recent changes in alone in placing more trust in the EU European politics. It can serve as a than in its national institutions and warning and a lesson for the rest of representatives, but only there and in Europe.

© 2019 IAI Greece did citizens go through such a dramatic moodswing – and did not The past as a faraway country come back.3 For decades, participation in European What happened? This article traces institutions was of paramount the rise of Euroscepticism in one of importance for post-war Italy. This the founding members of the EU, helped the country gain international seeks explanations for such a tectonic legitimacy after fascism, anchored change, and considers the implications its democracy to stable regional ISSN 2532-6570 for the broader European political institutions, and boosted economic landscape. growth. From the 1970s, there was a broad cross-party consensus that Italy Euroscepticism in Italy grew alongside not only belonged to the Euro-Atlantic the rise of anti-establishment parties structures of the European Economic since the 1990s. It became mainstream Community and NATO but was also in the through successive events a committed and active member that caused disenchantment with EU within them. This embrace continued policy. The past decade of crisis over the after the end of the Cold War and management of the Eurozone following the transformation of Italy’s political the 2008 financial crisis, Russia’s system, with the country playing a resurgence, economic recession, the constructive role in successive treaty influx of refugees in 2015-2016 and reforms that created the European Brexit, has led to an “evaporation of Union. solidarity”4 across the EU. Membership of the EU further bolstered In Italy, the combination of long-term institutional and political reform in inability to deal with economic and Italy. This was widely seen, at least political reform and the immigration until recently, as necessary for the challenge was explosive. The country, modernisation of the country. “Ce lo chiede l’Europa” (Europe is asking us to do this) is a widely used slogan to 3 This observation is based on the justify attempts to introduce change. Eurobarometer opinion polls for the same period for each member state. Italians are the only citizens in the EU 4 Erik Jones and Matthias Matthijs, “Democracy to have accepted a “European tax” in the without Solidarity: Political Dysfunction in 1990s to enable it to join the European Hard Times”, in Government and Opposition, Stability Mechanism – a necessary Vol. 52, No. 2 (April 2017), p. 185-210, https://doi. org/10.1017/gov.2016.47. step to become part of the Eurozone. IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

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Throughout and more than citizens (and former ), of any other member state, Italians , pointed out that the continued to trust the EU far more than government had omitted to create the their national institutions. foreseen committees to monitor price increases,5 Berlusconi blamed Brussels. The rise of euroscepticism What is significant about this period Scepticism toward the EU grew as is less the preferences expressed by

© 2019 IAI Italian politics took an increasingly Italy on individual policy choices anti-establishment turn under Prime than its transactional approach to EU Minister when the membership. Until then, all Italian country’s party system collapsed under governments had pursued a policy the dual pressure of the end of the of sitting at the table with the other Cold War and the discovery of massive founding members of the EU no matter corruption. The EU was not the primary what. Participation in the European target of the new parties that emerged conclave had been worth more than from the early 1990s, but gradually it winning a small battle on a particular ISSN 2532-6570 became an easy target to blame for the issue. Influence within the club was not country’s unsolved troubles. quantifiable.

Berlusconi had issues with EU By the 2010s this priority seemed to “interferences” over national matters; have left the political calculus in favour held no romanticism about the role of of domestic politics following two European integration in bringing about decades of electoral volatility, frequent peace, democracy, and prosperity; and alternation of governments, including maintained a preference for personal technical ones, and complicated relationships over international dilemmas with Brussels. Italy had lost institutions. Thus, his diplomatic prestige during the Berlusconi years, efforts to build friendships with who was at the time seen as a wild card Russian President Vladimir Putin and rather than as a sign of the times to US President George W. Bush were come, and the country started to under- inversely correlated to his limited invest in the EU. investment in the EU. In 2014 Prime Minister For example, when the EU agreed proposed his colleague Federica upon the European Arrest Warrant in Mogherini for the post of EU High 2002 – a significant step in building Representative for Foreign Affairs internal security in the wake of the and Security Policy rather than for 9/11 attacks – Berlusconi withheld his an economic portfolio, which would consent until the very last moment. have better reflected Italy’s core Another example of little attention to interests at the time. Simultaneously, EU policymaking occurred when the euro was introduced in 1999 and Italy 5 Giuseppe Di Taranto, “Oltre le polemiche saw a rapid increase in prices. While the politiche. Ecco come l’Euro sbarcò in Italia”, in LUISS Open, 8 January 2018, https://open.luiss. president of the European Commission it/?p=3928. IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

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Renzi opposed the possibility of his At the heart of the Mediterranean and predecessor being put with a weak rule of law, Italy has been forward as candidate for the presidency a country of transit for migration into of the European Council for domestic the EU and a destination point due to political reasons. demands of its official and unofficial labour market. The Dublin Regulation The blame game introduced by on asylum-seeking has worked against Berlusconi in the early 2000s was an the country, forcing it to process the

© 2019 IAI early example of what soon became asylum demands of refugees rescued in standard practice in Italy: blaming the Mediterranean with no obligation Brussels for domestic reasons. Only the for other EU countries to share the governments of Mario Monti and Paolo burden. This bone of contention has Gentiloni can be exempted from this. been repeatedly raised by successive governments of all stripes since the However, such trends are not 1990s but with close to no success. unique to Italy. Blaming Brussels Up until 2011, it proved impossible to and transactionalism in EU-level include the issue of migration in the ISSN 2532-6570 negotiations have become prominent central Mediterranean on the agenda of features in how many member states the European Council.6 The lack of EU relate to the EU. solidarity on migration issues is one of the biggest complaints of Italians, one The end of the romance with stronger than an alleged rise in anti- Brussels immigrant sentiment.7

Political opportunism is a likely reason The governance of the Eurozone is the for blaming Brussels. In a political other field where Italy has been involved system that remains in flux since its in a longstanding dispute with Brussels implosion in the 1990s, with political – even Romano Prodi famously called parties atomised, the interests of Italian the Eurozone rules “stupid”.8 The political actors have focused on seeking historic public debt and deficit problem immediate gains and electoral benefits. that successive governments inherited Playing the blame game with the EU from the squandering of public was an easy strategy. finances during the 1980s has been the Sword of Damocles hanging over every From the perspective of Italy, however, governing class since the 1990s, with there are a number of concrete demands that continued to be unaddressed by 6 Council of the European Union, The European the EU and which have fuelled a sense Council in 2011, Luxembourg, Publications of abandonment and loss of solidarity, Office of the European Union, January 2012, https://doi.org/10.2860/37641. most notably the management of 7 Tim Dixon et al., Attitudes towards National migration and of the Eurozone. These Identity, Immigration and Refugees in Italy, dilemmas in the relationship with the More in Common, August 2018, https://www. EU have persevered regardless of the moreincommon.com/italy-report1. 8 colour of the government and anti- Honor Mohony, “Prodi Calls Stability Pact ‘Stupid’”, in EUobserver, 17 October 2002, https:// establishment antics. euobserver.com/economic/8008. IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

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Brussels demanding reform packages joined by a disillusionment in what designed for austerity. the EU can offer to support Italians. All of this has taken place against a This austerity drive proved fatal for backdrop of economic recession, fear Italy’s pro-European elite and rhetoric. of uncontrolled immigration, brain The 2011 ousting of the Berlusconi drain, and the emigration of youth, government in favour of an austerity- who continue to have little trust in the mandated technical government future. This is what lies behind Italy’s

© 2019 IAI led by Mario Monti, a former EU current disenchantment with the EU. commissioner, was initially well- received.9 But its reforms were not. This Conclusions paved the way for the talk of a “European coup” against Italian sovereignty and is Italy has been depicted as Europe’s behind the ensuing electoral volatility basket case, the “sick man” or “soft of unprecedented dimension in the belly” of Europe – politically fickle elections of 2013 and 2018, which saw and unstable, too large to fail but the spectacular rise of new political too difficult to save. This bias has ISSN 2532-6570 forces. overlooked how, historically, the country, on the frontier of the Cold War Political dynamics and the power and geopolitically exposed at the centre balance within the EU have also not of the Mediterranean, has provided worked in Italy’s favour. European stability and positively influenced integration has largely been pushed by European integration. alliances of countries working together on building common positions. The The story of Italy falling out of love Franco-German axis has been at the with the EU is uniquely tied to its heart of this, but with successive history and circumstances, yet one enlargements the EU has seen the should not underestimate the extent to emergence of other influential groups, which the country’s ills have actually such as the Nordic cooperation, the become Europe’s new normal. Italy Visegrad Four, and the Hanseatic has pioneered the rise of eurosceptic League. Mediterranean states have politics and parties, which are now seldom joined forces in a similar way, challenging the EU status quo across even if some of their challenges are Europe. The transactionalist approach shared. to the EU that Berlusconi embraced is also becoming a mainstream way for The longstanding belief in Italy that the governments to interact with Brussels, national system is broken has thus been regardless of their pro- or anti-EU preferences.

9 A DEMOS poll showed that 8 out of 10 Italians were “positive” towards the new Monti Below the surface of political tit- government, and he personally enjoyed the for-tats and blame games, however, trust of 84 per cent of citizens. Ilvo Diamanti, lie deeper issues that pertain to the “Una fiducia da record per il premier. Otto su purpose of the EU in providing policy dieci promuovono Monti”, in Repubblica, 20 November 2011, http://demos.it/a00653.php. guidance and political solidarity within IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

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Europe. These are the governance of Europe’s economy and economic convergence across the continent, and the management of migratory flows. Both issues are central to the European integration project. Large numbers of disaffected citizens in any member state need to be seriously addressed.

© 2019 IAI When such trends of disaffection occur in a large founding member of the EU, it is likely to become a political question for all countries, especially if it affects the union’s decision-making.

For all its responsibilities and faults, Italy’s struggles with the EU’s management of migration and the ISSN 2532-6570 economy are emblematic of dilemmas that pertain to other countries as well. These have become endemic to the EU as a whole. Addressing them would be in the interest of not just Italy, but the entire Union.

23 July 2019 IAI COMMENTARIES 19 | 48 - JULY 2019 19 | 48 - JULY IAI COMMENTARIES

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Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) is a private, independent non-profit , founded in 1965 on the initiative of Altiero Spinelli. IAI seeks to promote awareness of international politics and to contribute to the advancement of European integration and multilateral cooperation. Its focus embraces topics of strategic relevance such as European integration, security and defence, international economics and global governance, energy, climate and Italian foreign policy; as well as the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in key geographical regions such as the Mediterranean and Middle East, Asia, Eurasia, Africa and © 2019 IAI the Americas. IAI publishes an English-language quarterly (The International Spectator), an online webzine (Affarinternazionali), three book series (Global Politics and Security, Quaderni IAI and IAI Research Studies) and some papers’ series related to IAI research projects (Documenti IAI, IAI Papers, etc.).

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