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From narrative to counter-narrative: the European constraint and the rise of Italian populist Euroscepticism

ABSTRACT This article argues that in Italy since the 1950s many Europhile technocrats conceived of the European Community as an external constraint needed to regulate a country that was incapable of governing itself. With the Maastricht Treaty this constraint was transformed into a key element of the public narrative about ‘Europe’. The emphasis placed on budgetary discipline that must be respected to join the Eurozone promoted an identification between tool and objective: the constraint was Europe. The recent economic-financial crises paved the way for a reversal of the meaning of the constraint, which turned into a negative paradigm. This reversal implies a form of ‘othering’: ‘Europe’ is opposed to the Italian people. Eurosceptic parties have promoted and taken advantage of this reversal. The alleged otherness of ‘Europe’ has given them the chance to call for a return to full national sovereignty. Based on theanalysis of archival and media sources, autobiographies and the existing literature about the contemporary history of Italy and its role in European integration, this article traces the historical trajectory of the pro-integration narrative of the ‘European constraint’. It will also show how this narrative produced unintended consequences that have strongly shaped Eurosceptic counter-narratives to the EU in Italy.