Italy and Europe: from competence to Solidarity to competence

ABSTRACT

Italy’s relationship with the rest of Europe began 2020 under a watchful eye. Although Giuseppe Conte’s second government was more pro-European than his first, European institutions (and bond markets) wondered whether the coalition was stable enough to undertake meaningful fiscal consolidation and institutional reforms. When the coronavirus struck, the tenor of the relationship changed completely. First, Italy felt abandoned by the rest of Europe – and not without reason – then Conte battled hard to ensure the rest of Europe would show solidarity. Thanks to Franco-German leadership, the rest of Europe delivered an unprecedented agreement to provide funding to help recover from the pandemic and to enhance resilience. At that point, doubts about whether Conte’s second government could deliver arose again. Divisions within the coalition deepened, and the year ended on a cliff hanger. This story has important implications for Italy, for Europe, and for how we understand the relationship between them.

KEYWORDS:

• European stability mechanism
• next generation EU
• euroscepticism
• populism
• two-level games

Acknowledgments

Pilar Bolognesi provided excellent research assistance. The usual disclaimer applies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Prodi made these comments at a talk to students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy, on 19 October; he elaborated on those remarks in an interview with Pilar Bolognesi in December.

2. This data is available from the European Commission at https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/overview.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erik Jones

Erik Jones is Professor of European Studies and International Political Economy at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University.