Talking Europe in the Italian public sphere

Abstract:

Italy has been considered an Euro-enthusiastic country. On the basis of claims analysis as well as semi-structured interviews with key political actors, this article presents a more nuanced image. Permissive consensus has in fact been eroded in Italy too: although support for the principle of European integration remains high, specific policy choices of European Union institutions are criticized together with the perceived 'democratic deficit'. In fact, the increasing competences at the EU level have contributed to a politicization of the debate on European integration, with different actors constructing different images of economic, social and political Europe.