Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-lrf7s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-25T14:04:19.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Italy and European Union enlargement: A comparative analysis of left and right governments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2016

Fabio Fossati
Fabio Fossati*
Affiliation:
University of Trieste, Italy
*
∗Email: fossati@pug.univ.trieste.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the attitudes of Italy's ruling and opposition parties towards the European Union (EU) enlargement process in Central and Eastern Europe. It shows that during both left (1996–2001) and right (2001–2006) governments there was a convergence between conservative and constructivist political platforms. In the first case, support for the Balkan countries (i.e., Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia) and Turkey was based on their economic (penetration of Italian firms) and political (stabilisation of a difficult area) potential. In the second case, support was justified for both economic (i.e., redistributive policy towards Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia) and cultural (i.e., pursuing a ‘plural’ Europe by including Turkey) reasons. Some liberal criticism based on Turkey's partial compliance with the political requirements for accession were raised by individual politicians of moderate right and left parties, and cultural biases against Islamic Turkey were stressed by the Lega Nord. Neither view, however, had a significant impact on the decision-making process.

Keywords

Italian foreign policyenlargementdiplomatic modelpolitical culture
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , May 2008 , pp. 187 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Alcaro, R. and Cornelli, M. 2005. Allargamento, Pesc e politica di vicinato. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Aliboni, R. 2003. La politica estera del governo Berlusconi. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Aliboni, R. and Bonvicini, G. 2005. La politica estera dell'Italia. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Andreatta, F. 2001. L'Italia nel nuovo sistema internazionale. Il Mulino 2: 258–64.Google Scholar
Andreatta, F. and Brighi, E. 2003. La politica estera del governo Berlusconi. I primi 18 mesi. In Politica in Italia , ed. Blondel, J. and Segatti, P., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Avery, G. and Cameron, F. 1998. The enlargement of the European Union. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bardi, L. 1996. Italy and European Union enlargement. In East-Central Europe and the EU: Problems of integration , ed. Kaiser, K. and Bruning, M., Bonn: Europa Union Verlag.Google Scholar
Brighi, E. 2006. ‘One man alone’? A long durée approach to Italy's foreign policy under Berlusconi. Government and Opposition 41, no. 2: 278–97.Google Scholar
Brighi, E. 2007. Europe, the USA and the ‘policy of the pendulum’: The importance of foreign policy paradigms in the foreign policy of Italy, 1989–2005. Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 9, no. 2: 99–115.Google Scholar
Carbone, M. 2007. The domestic foundations of Italy's foreign and development policies. West European Politics 30, no. 4: 903–23.Google Scholar
Confindustria. 2001. L'allargamento ad Est e l'industria italiana: opportunità, nodi critici e questioni aperte. Bruxelles: Confindustria, 28 February.Google Scholar
Cornelli, M. 2004. Il semestre di presidenza italiana. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Croci, O. 2002. The second Berlusconi Government and Italian foreign policy. International Spectator 37, no. 2: 89–101.Google Scholar
Dini, L. 1999. Italy, Turkey and the European Union. International Spectator 34, no. 1: 7–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Favretto, I. 2004. Italy, EU enlargement and the ‘reinvention’ of Europe between historical memories and present representations. Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 6, no. 2: 161–81.Google Scholar
Fini, G. 2005. Il sistema Italia funziona. Limes 4: 19–22.Google Scholar
Fossati, F. 1999. Economia e politica estera in Italia: L'evoluzione negli anni' 90 . Milan: Angeli.Google Scholar
Fossati, F. 2004. L'intervento esterno: attori, modalità e strumenti. In La sfida dell'allargamento: L'Unione Europea e la democratizzazione dell'Europa centro-orientale , ed. Mattina, L., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Fossati, F. 2006a. Introduzione alla politica mondiale . Milano: Angeli.Google Scholar
Fossati, F. 2006b. Il crescente ruolo delle ideologie nella politica mondiale dopo la guerra fredda. Quaderni di Scienza Politica 13, no. 2/3: 365–95.Google Scholar
Frattini, F. 2003. Dalla parte dell'Occidente. Ideazione 4. Available online at: http://www.ideazione.com (accessed 30 November 2007).Google Scholar
Frattini, F. 2004. The fundamental directions of Italy's foreign policy. International Spectator 39, no. 1: 95–99.Google Scholar
Friis, L. 1998. The end of the beginning of eastern enlargement: Luxembourg summit and agenda-setting. European Integration Online Papers 2, no. 7. Available online at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=302727 (accessed 30 November 2007).Google Scholar
Friis, L. and Murphy, A. 2000. Negotiating in a time of crisis: The European Union's response to the military conflict in Kosovo (EUI Working Paper 20). Florence: European University Institute.Google Scholar
Galtung, J. 1977. Empiricism, criticism and constructivism. In Methodology and Ideology . Oslo: International Peace Research Institute.Google Scholar
Giusti, S. 2002. Verso una razionalizzazione dell'allargamento? In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Giusti, S. 2003. L'allargamento dell'Unione Europea. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Greco, E. 2004. La politica estera dell'Italia. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Greco, E. and Matarazzo, R. 2003. Italy's European policy and its role in the European Convention. International Spectator 38, no. 3: 125–35.Google Scholar
Guerrieri, P. and Silvestri, S. 2004. New alliances, governance of the international system and Italy's foreign policy choices. International Spectator 39, no. 1: 101–22.Google Scholar
Guzzini, S. 2000. A reconstruction of constructivism in international relations. European Journal of International Relations 6, no. 2: 147–82.Google Scholar
Ignazi, P. 2004. Al di là dell'Atlantico, al di qua dell'Europa: Dove va la politica estera italiana. Il Mulino 2: 267–77.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, P. 1996. The culture of national security . New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Menotti, R. 2001. Italy: Uneasy ally. In Enlarging NATO: The national debates , ed. Mattox, G.A. and Rachwald, A.R., Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Missiroli, A. 2000. Allargamento, riforme istituzionali e difesa comune. In L'Italia e la politica internazionale , ed. Aliboni, R., Bruni, F., Colombo, A. and Greco, E., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Missiroli, A. 2001. Italian defence policy: European engagement and domestic reform. International Spectator 36, no. 2: 27–38.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, A. and Vachudova, M.A. 2003. National interests, state power and European enlargement. East European Politics and Societies 17, no. 1: 42–57.Google Scholar
Nugent, N. 1999. The government and politics of the European Union . London: MacMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nugent, N. 2004. European Union enlargement . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Pizzorno, A. 1993. Le radici della politica assoluta . Milan: Feltrinelli.Google Scholar
Rizzotti, L. 2002. Una strategia italiana per l'allargamento. Aspenia 17: 109–20.Google Scholar
Rossi, L.S. 2002. New trends in Italy's European policy. International Spectator 37, no. 1: 97–106.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, F. 2001. The Community trap: Liberal norms, rhetorical action and the Eastern enlargement of the European Union. International Organization 60, no. 1: 47–80.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, F. 2003. The EU, NATO and the integration of Europe: Rules and rhetoric . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, M.A. and Timmins, G. 2000. Building a bigger Europe: EU and NATO enlargement in comparative perspective . Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Spence, T. 2003. Perché Berlusconi piace a Bush. Limes 3: 199–204.Google Scholar
Von Hayek, F.A. 1976. The constitution of liberty . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Walston, J. 2004. The shift in Italy's Euro-Atlantic policy: Partisan or bipartisan? International Spectator 39, no. 4: 115–25.Google Scholar
Walston, J. 2007. Italian foreign policy in the Second Republic: Changes of form and substance. Modern Italy 12, no. 1: 91–104.Google Scholar
Zielonka, J. and Pravda, A. 2001. Democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe . Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Parliamentary Records

Camera dei deputati (XIII legislatura): Google Scholar
Commissione III (Affari esteri e comunitari): 1 October 1997, 21 July 1998 (stenografico, indagine conoscitiva: n.9), 9 December 1998 (stenografico: n.9), 26 May 1999.Google Scholar
Commissione XIV (Politiche dell'Unione Europea): 10 March 1997, 10 December 1998.Google Scholar
Camera dei deputati (XIV legislatura): Google Scholar
Commissione III (Affari esteri e comunitari): 6 March 2002, 12 March 2002, 4 November 2003, 11 November 2003, 20 January 2004, 15 July 2004, 1 December 2005.Google Scholar
Commissione XIV (Politiche dell'Unione Europea): 9 October 2001, 19 December 2002 (stenografico: n.4), 14 September 2004.Google Scholar
Commissioni riunite III (Affari esteri e comunitari), XIV (Politiche dell'Unione Europea): 18 October 2005 (stenografico: n.4).Google Scholar
Commissioni riunite III Camera (Affari esteri e comunitari), III Senato (Affari esteri, emigrazione): 11 November 2003 (stenografico: n.7), 14 December 2004 (stenografico: n.9).Google Scholar
Senato della repubblica (XIII legislatura): Google Scholar
Commissione III (Affari esteri, emigrazione): 6 May 1998 (n.124), 13 October 1999 (n.243, pomeridiana).Google Scholar
Commissioni riunite III (Affari esteri, emigrazione), XIV (Affari delle Comunità Europee): 10 December 1997 (n.3).Google Scholar
Senato della repubblica (XIV legislatura): Google Scholar
Commissione III (Affari esteri, emigrazione): 8 July 2003 (n.126), 21 July 2004 (stenografico: n.2).Google Scholar
Commissioni riunite III (Affari esteri, emigrazione), XIV (Affari delle Comunità Europee): 23 October 2002 (stenografico: n.13), 17 December 2002 (stenografico: n.16), 11 June 2003 (stenografico: n.23), 27 October 1994 (stenografico: n.29), 21 July 2005 (stenografico, comunicazioni del governo: n.2).Google Scholar