Italy In The European Union

Based on an analytical evaluation of both the weaknesses and strengths of the Italian political system, Italy in the European Union is the first book to offer a detailed and comprehensive description of Italy's contribution to European Union policy-making. The contributors to this volume systematically explore the role played by Italian institutional and noninstitutional actors in several decision-making processes. They show how Italian institutional actors define and promote national policy preferences that are compatible with those of the other European member states. However, the book functions on two levels: it is both a nuanced picture of Italy's role in the EU and a study of the EU as it has been transformed by subsequent waves of enlargement. In a compound polity of twenty-seven member states the formation of stable hegemonic coalitions is implausible--the concept of national interest, which still informs much of the literature on the EU, is logically and empirically unusable in many EU policy realms. Combining empirical investigation and theoretical analysis, this book is indispensable for scholars, students, and practitioners who study or observe Italian politics. It is also necessary for those who want to understand the transformation of European politics and the European Union's increasing development as a compound polity. Contributions by: Marco Brunazzo, Maurizio Carbone, Sabrina Cavatorto, Vincent Della Sala, Alessia Don , Sergio Fabbrini, Paolo Foradori, Giorgio Giraudi, Renata Lizzi, Simona Piattoni, Paolo Rosa, Stefano Sacchi, Alberta M. Sbragia, Daniela Sicurelli, and Luca Verzichelli

A Brookings Institution Press and Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (SSPA) publication Federiga Bindi provides, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of Italy's role within the European Union (EU) in this inaugural volume of a book series published jointly by the Brookings Institution Press and the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione (Italian National School of Public Administration, or SSPA). Italy and the European Union relates in detail the historical, cultural, and sociological factors that have led to Italy's incomplete "Europeanization," or full integration, within the EU. It also brings the reader up-to-date on the steps taken by the country's leaders to improve Italy's standing and become a more effective member in the organization it helped to found. Discussing the author's extensive research, The Economist notes.... "Federiga Bindi identified a number of barriers to an effective European policy in Italy: a high turnover of governments; coalition partners with conflicting aims; the failure of bureaucrats to learn from other member states; and politicians' lack of interest in Europe... recently however, she found that matters had improved. An interdepartmental body for the coordination of EU policies has been created, Parliament operates an effective scrutiny system..., the administration has learnt to learn from others. But the other problems remain, and they are formidable. Her study ends on an exasperated note: 'Italy appears to be stuck in the age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, in which the victory of one faction over another is what counts, and the fact that this may be damaging to the country matters little.'" —from The Economist, July 31, 2010

Offers a comprehensive study of Italy's role in the European Union, as well as the country's relations with the EU and other EU members. Original.

This book examines the impact of Europeanization on the domestic politics of EU member states, focussing on agricultural policy, cohesion policy and employment policy with a detailed comparative case study on Italy. Though a founding member, Italy has often had an uneasy relationship with the EU and found it difficult to be influential in EU politics and to comply effectively with EU policies and institutional pressures. The main focus of this book is the analysis of Italy-EU relationship from a policy-based perspective, adopting the conceptual lenses developed by Europeanization research. By looking at the evolution of agricultural, regional cohesion and employment policy the book shows how the politics of adaptation have brought Italy closer to Europe in the past twenty years and further highlights the impact of the EU-Italy relationship on domestic institutions and politics. The author explains that even though Italy has increasingly learned to respect EU membership requirements, its influence over agenda setting within the EU remains limited. Europeanization and Domestic Policy Change will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, Europeanization, comparative politics and Italian politics.

"The Lisbon Treaty states that national Parliaments shall contribute to a better functioning of the EU. Can they really do it and therefore enrich the European democracy? How far can they extend their original sovereignty without distorting political responsibilities that should be geared upon the European Parliament? The authors analyze the experience of the Italian Parliament under the light of these crucial questions and their exhaustive answers are greatly helpful to the readers of all over Europe." Giuliano Amato, Judge of the Italian Constitutional Court. This important new collection explores the role of the Italian Parliament in the Euro-national parliamentary system as an example of an increased role for national parliaments within the composite European constitutional order. It illustrates how parliamentary interactions within the European Union are highly systematic, with integrated procedures and mutual interdependence between the various institutions and stakeholders. The book argues that this dynamic is vital for both the functioning and the future equilibrium of democracy in the EU. This is significant, particularly given the challenges posed to democracy within the EU institutions and the Member States. Notwithstanding its peculiarities (a symmetrical bicameral system in which both Houses are directly elected, hold the same powers and are linked through a confidence relationship with the government), the Italian Parliament deserves specific attention as a lively active player of the European polity. The grid for its analysis proposed by this collection may also be applied to other national parliaments, so contributing to the development of comparative research in this field.

As a medium-sized power in strategic proximity to east central Europe, Italy has sought a special role in the region following the collapse of Communist regimes there. Building on historical traditions and cultural affinities, Italy has drawn on its newly acquired economic power and important position within the European Union to develop an "Eastern" policy, for example, as originator of the Pentagonale project for regional cooperation. As a result, Italy has often been perceived by east central Europeans as a key country in their efforts to become more closely integrated with western Europe. More recently, however, both ethnic strife in the region and the collapse of Italy's own political establishment have cast doubt on the country's ability to play the role that many east central Europeans as well as Italians hope it can assume in the future European order. In this timely volume, leading European and U.S. experts examine the multifaceted dimensions of what has been in many ways a unique relationship in contemporary Europe.

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,0, University of Pavia, language: English, abstract: In 2007, the European Union celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, and thus its official hour of birth after many years of intensive negotiations, which had lasted from 1945 till 1957. From the very beginning on, Italy “had been amongst the keenest supporters of the European integration, both at the popular and the government levels” (Comelli 2011: 2) and had played an important role within all early proceedings. Especially under the political leadership of Alcide de Gasperi, Italy became one of the most influential negotiators and until today, the country is considered a triumphant founding nation of the European Union (Di Nolfo 1980: 145). This widespread pro-European attitude, however, has declined dramatically during the last decades. This negative relationship between Italy and the European Union, however, might be recovering from now on. Matteo Renzi, who got elected the new Italian prime minister in February this year, seems willing to contribute decisive activities to move the Italian population again closer to Europe. As a first important step, Renzi used his government declaration to underline the his-torical significance of the European Union and the urgent necessity for Italy to restart European cooperation (N24.de 2014). Referring to his prominent political precursor, Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian prime minister promised to close the gap between Italy and Europe again. Picking up this recent look back to the founding period of the European Union by the Italian prime minister, this paper focuses on exactly that time and analyses Italy’s contribution during the early European integration. Political scientists and historians often divide this process in three main parts: the after-war period between 1945 and 1949, the beginning of multilateral negotiations from 1949 till 1954, and finally the most important time for the European unification ending with the ratification of the Treaties of Rome in 1957 (Di Nolfo 1980: 148). In the subsequent analysis, I will follow this structure and thereby concentrate on the most decisive events that took place within the different periods - first and foremost the Brussels and Atlantic Pact (1948), the Schuman Declaration (1950), the European Defence Community (1952), the Spaak Committee (1955), and the Treaties of Rome (1957).