Politicization and conflict in the relationship with the European Union: an analysis of Italian Prime Ministers' parliamentary speeches

Eugenio Salvati

doi:10.1017/ipo.2020.1

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, the relationship between Italy and the European Union (EU) has worsened due to the emergence of an increasingly negative attitude towards the question of European integration. The growth in citizens' disaffection with, and hostility towards, the political elites is part of a more general trend witnessed throughout the EU. From this point of view, an understanding of whether, and in what way, the role of Prime Minister (PM) has been affected by this change of perspective, especially following the various crises affecting the EU in the last 10 years, would be worthwhile we believe. This article examines the political positions of all PM during the so-called Second Republic (1994–now), by means of a longitudinal content analysis. This analysis reveals that after 2008, and for the first time in the history of the Italy–EU relationship, PMs' speeches have included sharp criticism of the EU. In particular, two PMs (Renzi and Conte) have clearly rejected those conditionality mechanisms implied by the EU. The results of this study confirm the start of a phase of strong conflict/politicization in regard to the EU and its institutional functioning.This article contributes to the broader literature concerning the study of the relationship between political elites and the EU, by focusing for the first time not simply on party leaders but on one of the most important institutional roles in the Italian political system (the Presidenza del Consiglio).

Highlights

The evolving relationship between national and supranational spheres, and the progressive intertwining of these two political arenas, represents a topical subject of political-scientific analysis
The other negative reference, in Conte’s case, concerns the rules governing budget control, with his position clearly being influenced by the tug-of-war with the Commission over the budget manoeuvre for 2019. During his first experience in government, Conte repeatedly emphasized his belief that these constraints, combined with the European Union (EU)’s governance of the Eurozone and the budgetary and monetary sector, should be considered as the main obstacle to economic growth. This embodies a straightforward refusal of conditionality, which is confirmed by his negative references – the first and only Prime Minister (PM) to do so – to the detrimental effects that the EU institutions and many of the political choices made at European level can have on the quality of Italy’s democratic life
The empirical analysis of the PMs’ parliamentary speeches confirms the belief that the relationship between the Italian political elite and the EU is a mix of continuity and rifts

Summary

Introduction

The evolving relationship between national and supranational spheres, and the progressive intertwining of these two political arenas, represents a topical subject of political-scientific analysis. The EU suddenly became a strongly politicized issue utilized within the framework of the inter-party competition, in a process of transformation of Italy’s party system (Brunazzo and Della Sala, 2016a) From this point of view, the attitude of the Italian political elite was ambivalent since, as Conti (2017) mentions, on the one hand, there was the will to maximize consensus during the electoral phase by intercepting the new Eurosceptic stance of the electorate, while at the same time, politicians acting within institutions adopted a pragmatic approach to the EU. An analysis of PMs’ speeches can further our understanding of the variations or continuity in question and, as Conti suggests (2017), helps us ascertain whether a positive approach to European integration continues to characterize institutional public speeches or not

Methodology

Findings

Discussion and conclusions