England’s Premier League has received conditional backing to begin again in June under special protocols. The President of Spain’s La Liga, Javier Tabas, has identified June 12th as the earliest date to reopen behind closed doors and contingent on approval by Spanish health authorities. Prime Minister Sanchez upstaged him at time of writing, approving an opening date of June 8th. The 20 teams in Italian Serie A have agreed to resume play on June 13th in empty stadiums. Poland has plans to restart on May 29th, Portugal will resume on May 30th, Austria June 2nd.

Some leagues have closed and have no specific plans for re-opening. The Belgian league was the first to cancel. The French government has cancelled Ligue 1 and declared Paris St. Germain the winner on points. Some clubs are considering challenging the decision. The Dutch government has cancelled all sports until Sept. 1. In Scotland training, and match plays have been suspended.

A National Unifier

Sports is not just about entertainment or escapism, although those certainly play a big part. It’s also an outlet for political tensions, and it can inspire people from different backgrounds to see the value of cooperation. It also acts as a platform for national and international issues, playing a considerable political role. And in the case of football, it is a big one!

This is true on the national level, too, where sports have often been a national unifier, with national teams coming to serve as national symbols. Fans rally behind the national team in hopes of a victory over rival nations. When national teams meet Germany at the World Cup or European Championships, one has the impression that the war is being relived, without guns, in a more peaceful version of historic rivalries. Local rivalries are also played out when club teams meet in the Champions or Europa League.  For next year’s 2020-21 season, eligibility will be determined in cases where the season has already been cancelled, by the current league rankings.

In times of international stress, the role of sports is even more important. The 1936 Olympic Games in Germany are still talked about for this reason. The hostage-taking at the 1972 Munich Olympic games focused attention on the Middle East and the raised fists of two American athletes in 1968 at the Olympic games in Mexico solidified the black power movement in the US and gave it further impetus.

From May 1950 until a loss to Turkey on February 19, 1956, the Hungarian national team – the “magnificent Magyars” – amassed a 43 win 6 draw and 0 defeats record, with the sole exception of the 1954 World Cup loss to West Germany. The international prowess of their footballers was a source of pride to Hungarians as they prepared their unsuccessful 1956 revolt against the Soviet Union.  In 1980, many Western countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The more recent French victories in the World Cup (1998, 2018) and the European Championship (1984, 2000), as well as making it to several semi-finals, have provided a platform for the country’s new multi-ethnic identity, as numerous immigrants from former French colonies helped lead the team to victory and were celebrated as national heroes. German and Italian teams that have vied for number one in Europe are said to play with their national character on their shirt sleeves, the well oiled “Mannschaft” being compared to the more individualistic “Azzurri.”

Spanish football was built by Franco at a time when the country didn’t agree on much else. It is still a source of pride and massive revenue. Iceland too achieved something remarkable. The “Strákarnir okkargetting” or “our boys” united the country and gave a boost to tourism by their quarter-final finish in the 2016 European Championship.

Players, Warriors, Princes, And Saints

Star football players are sportsmen- and -women first. They inspire us to run harder, train, and compete. They also play a much deeper psychological role modeling the warriors of old to inspire us in the social struggles we face, and parallels also tie them to ancient princes like the good King Wenceslas of Moravia doling out alms to the poor. Alongside benevolent ruler, the role of a saint, taking up the cause of the poor, although eschewing personal sacrifice, is not far behind. In taking on these various mantels, athletes reassure us of our good intentions, society’s smooth functioning, and the persistence of social cohesion.

Few will have trouble identifying Cristiano Ronaldo’s exploits on the field with those Homeric exploits of Ulysses – if, of course, in a way more fit for modernity. But somewhat less known, Ronaldo was “Most Charitable Sports Figure of 2019”, having achieved this number one ranking several times previously. Along with Maria Sharapova (#8), he is one of two Europeans to make the top ten charitable sports figure list. He is also better known throughout Europe than many presidents.  

Other charitable figures, features of the European sports scene, will be well-known to football fans: Neymar Jr. (#5), Didier Drogba, David Beckham, and Craig Bellamy, along with many others. One can question a system that awards some with fortunes they can give away while others struggle to make ends meet but it would be more difficult to question the generosity of these athletes. Unlike high finance, they have exploited no-one but themselves in amassing their fortune.

A figure like Zinedine Zidane, born in Marseille to Algerian parents, the hero of the French 2000 World Cup victory, and four-time Champions’ League victor as coach of Real Madrid, helps serve as a role model for immigrant kids, extending a feeling of common belonging in the immigrant community. Zidane also showed off the role of the saint – or in this case anti-saint – with his infamous headbutt of the Italian Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final that France went on to lose. Even the French were genuinely shocked. Materazzi had, it was said, insulted Zidane’s mother, raising the incident to another cultural level.

Other social conflicts are played out on the safer terrain of the turf as compared to the street. Families sometimes have divided club loyalties – one could imagine a Neapolitan family where one parent is a supporter of Inter Milan, the team representing the financial center of Italy. The other parent might root for Naples, identifying them as a team representing the city’s poor, and their offspring might join in the youthful enthusiasm for Juventus’ victories.  No football match will challenge the power structure in Italy, but football acts as an outlet to those tensions of identity and social cohesion.

When Sports Get Ugly

If sports has an outsized cultural influence, this does not always translate into a positive impact. Drugs, underage prostitution, illegal gambling, match-fixing, and right-wing passions are just some of the principal ugly moments in football that we hope not to see in the remainder of this Corona-truncated season. Teams have been forced before to play to empty stadiums, forgoing enormous revenues, not because of the virus but because of unruly, or even violent fans – even going so far as to violate European law against hate crimes or fascist symbols. Sanctions are applied by UEFA, football’s governing body in Europe.

Homophobic and racist chants, along with Nazi Swastikas, are often at the root of these bans, and often had to occur multiple times before punitive action was even considered. The problem is widespread. Groups called “ultras”, social clubs with several thousand members, and right-wing affiliations, are usually the prime movers in the repeated incidents. Some clubs are more infamous than others for their supporters’ continued far right affiliations – Lazio comes to mind – but no one is exempt. The German player Mesut Özil, who was born in Germany from Turkish parents, plays for Arsenal in the UK and retired from the German national team because of racism last year. Feyenoord, a Dutch team, was fined when fans threw a large inflatable banana at an AS Roma player of Ivorian origin. British fans, hooligans, known previously all over Europe for their drunken riots whenever they played on the continent, have now discovered racism towards many of the Commonwealth and other foreign players in the Premier League, as well as towards adversaries they play on the continent. Incidents of racism in Eastern European football are also commonplace.

It’s Go-Time

For better or worse, the season has begun again and will provide a needed distraction from days laden with news of the virus. Players will be no better or worse than we are – but their exploits will provide a window into European society, its strengths, and its weaknesses. It will fall upon us not to waste that moment of reflection, and make sure we try to do well by doing good: have fun, and change Europe for the better.

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China’s reawakening might not have been as abrupt and disruptive as Smaug’s, but it has certainly contributed to the narrative shift we are witnessing today: the centre of economic gravity will soon lie elsewhere, in what a 16th-century explorer from the West would have naively called “the rest”. EU’s share of the world GDP (PPPs) will almost halve by 2050 and the European powers are destined to lose their position as top global economies (Pwc 2017); major Chinese cities can already boast GDPs comparable to those of entire European countries, while the Old Continent is set to become a demographic pigmy according to most scenarios (European Environment Agency 2016).

“Hide Your Strength, Bide Your Time”

The Dengist maxim “hide your strength, bide your time” was officially discarded in 2017, when China’s Paramount Leader Xi Jinping announced China’s grand entrance into the global geopolitical arena. Such participation had already begun when its markets silently opened to foreign investments, and the government promoted outward-looking policies such as Go Global/Go Out and Peaceful Rise. However, this new assertiveness has taken a bigger, forward-looking tone with the One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) inaugurated in 2013.

The OBOR is more of a long-term vision than a clear project. The strategy entails a multitude of investments in infrastructures such as railways, pipelines, industrial parks, ports and highways along two main routes: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. OBOR involves more than 65 countries, the majority of which are in the Eurasian continent. Indeed, the Chinese government aims to develop the country’s western provinces further by bringing back the central role that the ancient Silk Road played in transcontinental commerce between Europe and the Far East; moreover, unstable countries in Central Asia and poor infrastructures along the maritime route to Europe curtail the potential economic gains that well-connected and economically prosperous countries could offer.

An Economic Uproar

The recent choice by the Italian government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has shaken the West, with the EU’s budget Commissioner Oettinger even suggesting to confer the EU veto power over matters of such importance. The uproar comes amid parallel fears in different contexts, such as spying accusations involving the Chinese technology giant Huawei and disagreements at the WTO level, where China is constantly criticized for unfair practices like price dumping.

Researchers agree that Belt and Road could lead to great economic benefits, especially for those landlocked countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the heavily indebted Southern member states. Overall, trade in the EU could increase by 6% (Garcia & Xu 2017). Moreover, the importance of the Mediterranean ports has steadily increased in the last years, with most of the traffic from the Suez Canal favouring them over the northern ports of Rotterdam and Hamburg (Prodi & Fardella 2017); Italy aims therefore to enhance the role of its ports (Genova, Venice and Trieste especially) as the fourth European economic power trails behind France, UK and Germany in imports and exports to and from China, and also lags behind in terms of investments and capital circulation.

The Belt and Road Initiative Between Wealth, Power and Politics

Despite assurances from President Xi Jinping that the strategy would only lead to economic prosperity, the EU is right to approach Belt and Road with caution: Chinese state-owned giants are privileged actors in this endeavour and their interests might not always overlap with the EU’s; transparency and project sustainability are also important issues that China has not sufficiently dealt with until now. Economic theory teaches us that trade and interdependence favour the well-being of consumers and create bonds that help prevent unwanted events such as wars. With wealth, nevertheless, power and politics come into the equation.

The EU is clearly divided on the issue: last week the French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Xi Jinping together with Angela Merkel and EU’s Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, seemingly signalling that a multilateral EU-wide framework is needed to gain the most benefits out of this challenge (or opportunity). Italy’s embrace of the BRI, the first G7 country to do so, could therefore push European member states to seek more unity, after the adherence to the MoU by other 11 member states (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia) failed to attract the attention needed. Not coincidently, on March 12 the Commission issued a meaningful press release referring to China as both a negotiating partner and a “systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance”. It is quite a symbolic defeat to witness a systemic rival, embodied by the state-owned giant COSCO Shipping, owning 51% stakes in the Port Authority of Piraeus in Athens, the cradle of European democracy.

But it’s not too late. MoUs are non-binding cooperation frameworks and the agreements signed between Italy and China during Xi’s visit to Europe have limited economic impact and do not confer Chinese companies the ownership of vital infrastructures; more specifically, the arrangement concerning the ports of Genova and Trieste and the corporation China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) does not contemplate the acquisition of the ports’ authorities but rather aims to enhance connectivity to railway infrastructures. There is still time for the EU to find a more coherent approach and to take a leading role in the initiative: the EU represents the ending destination of all trade routes and has therefore leverage and say over the agreements taking place within its borders.

Intra-European competition, however, represents a major restraint to the stronger coordination needed at the EU level. Ports in the Northern Range (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg) also benefited from Chinese capital; the hostility coming from Northern member states over the cooperation agreements signed between the Chinese companies and the Italian ports might, therefore, be driven by fears that the economic significance of such ports would be downsized. Indeed, Professor Bart Kuipers, an expert on port economics from the University of Rotterdam, argues that the planned railway connections in Southern and Central Europe would reduce the container traffic in the Northern range ports by 1,6%. New interconnection projects could even increase such percentage.

COSCO Shipping has a 35% stake in the new generation terminal Etr Euromax Terminal Rotterdam, and 20% in the Antwerp Gateway terminal, while a Chinese consortium led by CCCC (which also includes Ali Baba founder Jack Ma) has been awarded the contract for the construction of a new automated terminal in the port of Hamburg in 2017. The competition also arises within the Mediterranean, where ports in the Adriatic seek to supplant the centrality of the Piraeus.

The EU’s timid response to this reality does not offer an effective solution to China’s “divide et impera” strategy. Xi Jinping has been engaging with CEE countries through the “16+1 platform”, a transnational initiative which further endangers the cohesion of the EU on the matter.

A Commission Proposal Approval From the EU

After insistence from France, Germany and the previous Italian government, the European Parliament approved a Commission proposal contemplating a screening mechanism for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), already existing in the world’s major economies. The vote, which took place last month, saw an overwhelming majority (500 in favour, 49 against). While “critical sectors” to protect, such as aerospace, media and health, have grown in number thanks to MEPs, Member States will still have the final say over such investments.

Supranational institutions such as the Commission and the European Parliament have the potential to counter member states’ egoism and safeguard the Union’s common interest. However, the economic crisis has left economically weaker Member States in need of financial resources and are therefore more inclined to entertain bilateral relationships with foreign investors and oppose intrusion from the EU. Manfred Weber, formerly the European People’s Party’s Spitzenkandidat for the presidency of the European Commission, has spoken in favour of a measure that would allow the EU to decide on a case-to-case basis whether foreign investment is detrimental to the EU’s interests.

A Much Bigger Phenomenon

The role of the Belt and Road Initiative in Europe is only one component of a much bigger phenomenon:  the transformation of the world order as we know it. Regionalization has brought the emergence of power blocs and their respective spheres of influence without the need of a Cold War in the background; China’s rise is particularly worrying for the hegemonic United States, which fear that a Thucydides trap could be waiting at the next corner. Chinese claims over Taiwan, its unprecedented activism in Africa and assertiveness in the South China Sea, which threatens the international maritime law, also contribute to the cautious and often confrontational approach taken by Western powers over the OBOR.

The signature of the Memorandum of Understanding by a G7 economy might have offered an important boost towards a more harmonised line of action without having created irremediable rifts in the West and sold fundamental assets to a foreign power; moreover, the long-term essence of the Belt and Road Initiative and the usually short life-span of Italian governments might play in favour of those who are showing scepticism over the Chinese strategy, with an unexpected change in direction from the next Italian government.

The rationale behind this signature appears less surprising when Italy’s intra-government dynamics are taken into account: the two parties in power are divided on the issue; the Five Star Movement is championing closer relations with China in the likely intent to gain more leverage over Brussels with regards to budget flexibility. The North League opposed the signature, but it might have given up its opposition in a show of gratitude to the 5SM, whose votes in Parliament were crucial to forestall a trial on Matteo Salvini over the seizure of an NGO ship.

The Economic Relevance of the EU

Nevertheless, we should not let paranoia poison the debate. The stability of Central Asia is also in the interest of the European Union and so is the rebuilding of the hard-hit economies in Southern Europe. The Belt and Road Initiative presents an opportunity for both economic development and reform of domestic governance in the EU, provided that sensitive assets remain in control of European democracies. The issuing of the EU-Asia Connectivity Strategy last year may be the indication that the EU is ready to curb Chinese soft power in Asia, but the difference in terms of resources available and strategic capability does not play in favour of the Old Continent. Indeed, a more coherent structure, a bigger budget and more effective decision-making are needed for the EU to avoid losing economic relevance in the next decades.

More than ever, the EU’s policymakers should ask themselves whether it is time to step up the game and advance European integration or remain in the limbo where the European Union is currently stuck. Uncoordinated responses, diverging policies and overlapping initiatives do nothing but offer foreign powers the possibility to have the high ground in negotiations and extract concessions more easily. The Union has already shown its potential in matters of trade, where it has managed to carve out an important role as market power, and even in foreign policy, although exceptionally and with mixed results. However, with a budget representing only 1% of the EU’s GDP, the Union is unlikely to keep up with competing for power blocs in general investments and many of the relevant fields of the near future, such as artificial intelligence and space exploration/exploitation.  Of course, a long-term economic strategy such as the Belt and Road Initiative might not be the only factor. Donald Trump’s repeated criticism over Europe’s commitment to NATO, Russian rearmament, climate change migration flows can also change in the mindset of policymakers, both in Member States and EU institutions.

Bibliography

An earlier version of this article was originally written for the University of Leiden. 

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A deck is composed of 78 cards and divided into two groups. The first group is known as Minor Arcana and contains 56 cards in the four standard suits (Batons, Swords, Cups and Coins). Each suit has ten pips and four face cards (Page, Knight, Queen and King). The second group is more interesting when talking about tarot cards. It’s known as Major Arcana and it contains 22 picture cards, which serve as trumps and are numbered with Roman numerals. Those cards depict not only the European characters of the 15th century but also allegories and religious ideas. 

Here are some curious Europe-related facts about tarot cards. 

# 1 – The most famous tarot card pattern is called “Tarot of Marseille”.
Although as the name suggests, the cards were not invented in the homonymous French city. As written before, they were created in northern Italy. They were introduced into southern France after the French conquered Milan and Piedmont in 1499. It gained popularity as a card game there while the game eventually died out in Italy. The game was then reintroduced in Italy, and the name “Tarot of Marseille” stuck to the game.

#2 – The Fool is related to the Wild Man.
The Fool, also called The Jester, is the only generally unnumbered trump card. It’s also considered as the most valuable card of the deck. The Fool is related to the Wild Man who is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe. They are both connected to the concept of divine madness, a manifestation of enlightened behaviour by people who have transcended societal norms.

#3 – The High Priestess (II) was originally called The Popess.
This card possibly refers to the legendary female Pope Joan. The story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and later spread throughout Europe. Joan was described as a talented woman and a master of disguise. She disguised herself as a man and rose through the Church hierarchy where she was eventually elected as pope. She was exposed after she gave birth during a procession. The legend was widely believed for centuries, including the period when tarots were invented, but most modern scholars regard it as imaginary.

#4 – In historical decks, both The Empress (III) and the Emperor (IV) are holding a shield that bears an eagle.
The eagle is the heraldic emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.

#5 – The Hierophant (V) was originally called The Pope.
This was because The Pope controlled political and military forces besides religion as opposed to the Emperor when the cards were invented. Sometimes the four cards depicting The Popess, the Empress, the Emperor and The Pope were censored altogether. The Bolognese cards replaced them with four Moors or Turks.

#6 – The Chariot (VII) is linked to the Chariot Allegory as told by the Greek philosopher Plato.
In particular, the Rider-Waite tarot deck depicts the chariot being pulled by two sphinxes, one white and one black. Plato’s Chariot Allegory represents the human soul as a chariot. The white sphinx symbolises logic and intellect and the black one represents irrational passions and desires.

#7 – Justice (VIII), Strength (XI) and Temperance (XIV) represent three of the four cardinal virtues as women. 

The four cardinal virtues were recognized in classical antiquity and traditional Christian theology as Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice. Although, Prudence is usually not included.

#8 – The Wheel of Fortune (X) recalls another medieval philosophical concept: Rota Fortunae.
The Wheel of Fortune represents the capricious nature of fate that can be favourable and disadvantageous for everyone, whether rich or poor. The idea comes from the zodiac that was first invented in Babylon and later developed by the ancient Greeks. In the middle ages, the Wheel of Fortune was largely used in religious instruction, politics and general culture. For instance, we can find references in the Mirrors for Princes and in Carmina Burana. Later on, the concept was used in literature: Shakespeare in Hamlet and Henry V.  It’s used in recent times as well: German composer Carl Orff’s O Fortuna and the television show Wheel of Fortune.

#9 – The Hanged Man (XII) depicts a pittura infamante, an image of a man hanged upside-down by an ankle. 

Pittura infamante was a genre of defamatory painting, which was common in Renaissance Italy. This particular method of hanging was a common punishment for traitors, so pitture infamanti were a medium to obtain character assassination. In fact, popular subjects were traitors, thieves and people guilty of bankruptcy or public fraud in cases where there was no legal remedy available. The paintings were displayed in public places to openly humiliate the subjects. 

#10 – Death (XIII) usually portrays a Grim Reaper.
The Grim Reaper is a personification of death commonly found throughout all European art and culture. While the other Major Arcana are usually labelled, for Death the name is often omitted. For this reason, the card was simply called “The Card with No Name”. The Grim Reaper is found in different forms in European folklore. For instance, it can directly cause the victim’s death, or it can only be a psychopomp; furthermore, it can be a male or a female personification.

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like Top Ten Famous Dance Songs That Are Actually European

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4th March: General Elections in Italy

The latest Italian general elections confirm the rupture of the country’s bipolar coalition system, a set up that emerged in the wake of the Mani Pulite (clean hands) scandal, which had decimated the Italian political environment in the 1990s. For the second time, the 5 Stars Movement comes out of the elections as a third pole, thanks to its non-conventional communication techniques and its post-ideological set up. With the centre-left coalition stuck in its internal struggles and a weakened Forza Italia party led by unelectable Berlusconi, the North League seems to be the only possible partner for the creation of a government. The Five Stars movement and the North League have many similarities: they are both ambiguously Eurosceptic, anti-system, and have been defined as populist parties.

While the North League has been in government before with Berlusconi, this could be the first time that they rise to government as a senior, rather than a junior partner. The party, once known for its radical xenophobia towards Southern Italians, has shifted its rhetoric to target foreigners and immigrants instead. The rise of former MEP Matteo Salvini as a leader of the party has led the North League to abandon economic liberalism and build an economic platform that winks to the Left, much in the style of Marine Le Pen’s Front National. The xenophobic roots of their ideology, however, are still strong.

The Five Stars were born as a protest movement and entered Parliament at the last elections in 2013, but never came to power. In fact, they stressed many times in the past that they would not form a coalition and would only accept governing alone, in order to revolutionise Italian political institutions. This seemed to be the only stable point of their policies, as their views on other topics changed unpredictably. Then their views on alliances changed as well, so it is a bit difficult to accurately describe the Five Stars in traditional terms.

The composition of the Parliament after the elections does not allow for a clear, autonomous majority of one coalition (see table below), leaving the country at the mercy of a hung parliament. This is neither exceptional nor unprecedented in Italian politics, as the set-up of the Constitution and Electoral laws is skewed towards the creation of coalitions and alliances, in order to prevent one single party from gaining enough power to govern unchecked. This is, of course, to prevent another totalitarian regime from rising to power after Fascism, but it has also created instability and doesn’t allow for long terms plans and policies, as Italian political parties are stuck in a permanent electoral campaign.

It is customary for the previous government, in this case led by Paolo Gentiloni, to remain in power ad interim until a new government can be formed. However, it holds limited power, as it is not an expression of the people’s will and has no political mandate, so it can exert his executive power only on ordinary affairs. For example, an ad interim government is not expected to pass the annual Budget Law.

Chambers of Deputies composition [click here for details]	Senate composition [click here for details]

24th March: Elections of Presidents of Parliament’s Chambers

Approximately 20 days after the elections, the Five Stars movement and the centre-right coalition finally reach an agreement to elect the two presidents of the Chambers of Deputies and Senate, as expected after an election. The president of a parliamentary chamber is an equivalent of the figure of a speaker in the anglosphere.

Roberto Fico, a member of the Five Stars movement, is elected as the president of the Chamber of Deputies. In the Senate, the appointee is Maria Elisabetta Alberti-Casellati, a member of Forza Italia and unyielding Berlusconi supporter. This agreement opens the door to further negotiations between the two blocs, whereas the relative majority party never demonstrated any interest in forming alliances in the past. The centre-left coalition remains excluded from any negotiations at this stage.

18th April: Casellati receives explorative mandate

A first attempt at forming a government is conducted by Casellati, who tries to broker an alliance between the Five Stars movement and the centre-right coalition, which includes the North League, Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy (inspired by the national anthem Fratelli d’Italia) and Us with Italy. The two entities have the largest number of members of Parliament and would be able to form a stable government.

While the Five Stars movement shows interest in an alliance with the North League only, and to a lesser extent with Brothers of Italy, Berlusconi and Giorgia Meloni (leader of Brothers of Italy) veto any collaboration. This is due to Berlusconi’s personal grudge against the Five Stars movement, which was born as a protest movement against him and later became a protest movement in general; but also because of Giorgia Meloni’s wish of creating a government that is unambiguously centre-right. The North League has to back down because of the strategic role of Forza Italia in many regional centre-right governments, as a disagreement at national level could cause a domino effect and make their shared regional governments unstable.

23rd April: Fico receives explorative mandate

After a first attempt at creating an alliance fails, Roberto Fico receives an explorative mandate to try and create a government ruled by the Five Stars and the centre-left coalition, which includes the Democratic Party, +Europa, Together (Insieme), and the centrists of Popular Civic List. This alliance would have had a narrow majority, thus being a less stable option than a coalition to the right.

Free and Equals, an umbrella organization for social democratic splinter parties (some of whom seceded from the Democratic Party) failed at gaining enough bargaining power to be relevant outside a coalition and fell silent after the elections. In fact, most of the bargaining power in the centre-left is held by the Democratic Party, although the party itself is still divided between two camps: a more leftist, traditionalist one, and Renzi’s supporters, who took over the party in the hopes of renovating its approach and policies towards a more moderate, centrist positioning.

Of course, this means that the proposition of an alliance is received in different ways, with Renzi’s supporters mobilized against it (#senzadime, which translates as #withoutme), and a more open-minded leftist wing of the party.

29th April: Renzi’s interview

During an interview on national television, Matteo Renzi expresses his personal opinion on an alliance with the Five Stars, by declaring that he opposes it. This is interpreted by Di Maio, leader of the Five Stars movement, as a signal that negotiations are over. For this reason, he shuts down any chance at reaching an agreement with the Democratic Party, judged too remissive towards its former leader.

9th May: Berlusconi backs down

Berlusconi opens up towards an alliance between the North League and the Five Stars movement by withdrawing his veto and allowing the beginning of a new round of negotiations between the two major parties. Forza Italia and the other parties of the centre-right coalition don’t take part in the attempt to form a majority.

There are a few causes of friction between the parties, the main ones being the name of a neutral Prime Minister Candidate, the list of Ministers, and the incorporation of the two programmes.

12th May: Berlusconi electable again

Milan’s court reverses the sentence which made Berlusconi unelectable because of his conviction for fiscal fraud. Berlusconi is still under investigation for the 1993 massacres committed by the mafia, and a sentence is pending for the “Ruby” case in which he is accused of exploitation of prostitution that involved an underage Egyptian girl. The public prosecutor also stated that he will appeal to a higher court for the fiscal fraud case. Nevertheless, Berlusconi for the moment can be elected in the next general elections and can become an active player in the negotiations.

“Plan B” is a detailed plan for exiting the Eurozone which, among other things, calls for secrecy and lack of transparency on the part of the government. As a matter of fact, it theorizes that if Italian citizens knew about Italexit, they would take their savings abroad to avoid devaluation, leaving the country’s financial system in disarray and causing an almost certain sovereign default. This means that the plan should be kept secret until the last minute, when all money transfers and withdrawals will be forcibly forbidden.

15th May: A draft of the agreement is leaked

Meanwhile, the Five Stars movement and the North League continue their negotiations. An early draft of the “government contract” between the two is leaked. The draft hints at a “plan B” to have Italy exit the Eurozone, and this is cause of concern for many, as this specific issue would cause repercussions on the whole Euro area. While the eurosceptic affiliation of both parties is well-known, the topic was not part of the electoral campaign, during which both parties held an unusually ambivalent attitude.

The part on Italexit is deleted and not included in the final version agreement.

23rd May: Conte receives mandate to form a government

Giuseppe Conte, a civil lawyer with no experience in politics or public service, receives mandate to form a government. His name is at the centre of a heated debate because the press investigates his curriculum vitae, only to discover that there is few evidence of many of his prestigious study experiences abroad. His name is also linked to the Stamina case, where he had a rather marginal role as lawyer of the family involved, who wished to continue treatment on their terminally ill daughter. Given the anti-vaxxer and anti-science stances of the Five Stars movement and the North League, and the fact that the issue is present in their agreement, this causes a fierce opposition from the centre-left.

The Spread BTP-Bund is the difference of interest yields between the 10-year Italian bond and the 10-year German bond. It is an indicator that measures the risk of investments in a country and its rise can mean that it will be more expensive to repay public debt. As a consequence, any attempt at investing in expansionary policies (deeply needed in countries like Italy) is hindered.

There is also perplexity on the name of the proposed Finances Minister. Salvini dictates the name of Paolo Savona, one of the authors of the “plan B” to Italexit. The news of a possible appointment of Savona as Finances Minister causes concern in Europe and this leads to a rise of the Spread BTP-Bund.

Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President of the Republic, refuses to support a government with Savona as Finances Minister, and proposes the name of Giancarlo Giorgetti instead. Giorgetti is a prominent member of the North League, with extensive knowledge of Italian budgetary matters and more of a political figure. It is not the first time that the President of the Republic suggests a different name for a minister, an occurrence generally dictated by incompatibility problems. It is still debated whether Mattarella’s refusal, while legally legitimate, is politically acceptable. Nevertheless it is a bold move and a rare occurrence in Italian political practice.

27th May: Conte renounces the mandate to form a government

Matteo Salvini pressures the appointed Prime Minister Conte, refusing to yield on the name of Savona as Finances Minister. This is unprecedented in Italian history, and causes Conte to renounce his mandate.

The President of the Republic Mattarella gives a speech in which he explains the reasons behind his refusal. According to him, nominating Savona would have put the savings of Italian citizens and families at risk. The President claims it’s his duty to protect them. As a matter of fact, the Italian Constitution does state that it is the duty of the Italian institutions to protect citizens’ savings, and since the role of the President of the Republic is to be the guarantor of constitutional values, his decision is coherent. President Mattarella has dedicated his life to studying, executing, and defending the Italian Constitution as a professor, as a Minister of the Republic, as an elected judge of the Constitutional Court and now as President of the Republic. During his speech, Mattarella also declares that he will make a decisions on the future steps on the following day.

Indictment is an act by the Parliament of Italy that allows to proceed against the President of the Republic in the case of high treason or attack on the Constitution. It is also an act that implies that the President of the Republic betrayed the trust of its citizens. The indictment procedure has never been brought to completion in the history of the Italian Republic.

The reactions by the main parties involved are immediate. Di Maio gives a speech that is live-streamed on Facebook from Fiumicino, where he is supposed to support the movement’s candidate to the city council. He strongly protests against Mattarella’s decision and argues that the President is responsible for destroying the work done  during the negotiations. Salvini starts a live-stream from his phone, saying that he was ready to govern and that he is disappointed by Mattarella’s decision. Giorgia Meloni proposes the indictment of the President of the Republic.

In defense of the President, the Democratic Party launches a campaign #iostocolpresidente (translatable as #Istandwiththepresident), although it fails at providing a unified and strong response to the right’s accusations. Forza Italia announces that they would not support indictment against Mattarella, and the North League follows.

28th May: Cottarelli receives mandate to form a government

Carlo Cottarelli, a non affiliated public finances expert who represented Italy to the IMF, receives mandate from Mattarella to form a temporary government to lead Italy to the elections after the summer.

During an interview with a popular Italian tv show, Pomeriggio 5, the leader of the Five Stars Movement, Di Maio, says that they proposed alternative names to Savona but President Mattarella did not accept them. Soon after, a message from the President’s office denies Di Maio’s claims. The leader of the North League, Salvini, during the same tv show, says that he was not there, so he cannot confirm or deny Di Maio’s claims, implying that he’s lying.

Meanwhile, Forza Italia announces that they won’t support the Cottarelli government. The Democratic Party is split between Renzi’s supporters who agree with Forza Italia on not supporting Cottarelli, and others who offer support.

Berlusconi also opens up to the North League again, in view of the forthcoming elections. Salvini is open to this but seems reluctant to leave the newfound alliance with the Five Stars Movement, leading to speculations on a new coalition for the next elections. As a matter of fact, the Five Star and the North League hint at a big protest during the celebrations of the second of June, the Day of the Republic in Italy. The announcement of the protest comes after many social media commentators requested a march on Rome, a reference to Mussolini’s power grab in 1922.

29th May: Cottarelli working on a new government

Cottarelli continues his work on a new government, despite his chances of obtaining a majority in the Parliament being rather thin. Failure to get a majority vote would lead to a very short government ad interim with no political mandate.

Di Maio withdraws his threat of indictment to the President and offers a new attempt at creating a political government. Giorgia Meloni from Brothers of Italy opens up to the possibility of joining the alliance.

30th May: Di Maio attempts to gather support for a political government

Talks for the creation of a new government go on. Di Maio, Cottarelli and Matteo Salvini’s second in command, Giancarlo Giorgetti, are summoned by President Mattarella to reach an agreement on the new government.

Police forces are investigating at least three people for death threats and insults towards President Mattarella. Some of the threats referenced the death of the President’s brother, killed by the Mafia in 1980 during his mandate as President of Sicily. Death threats aside, insulting the President of the Republic is a crime punishable with a fine in Italy, since he represents all the Italian citizens and the Constitution, so he is a symbol of the country’s democratic institutions.

31 May: an agreement on the government is reached

An agreement to a political government guided by Giuseppe Conte is reached in the evening. The new government includes 18 ministers. They will swear an oath on the Constitution on the 1st of June and then they will have to secure the trust of the Parliament in a vote.

This is the list of the ministers:

This government is expression of the first purely anti-system coalition in Italy. Nevertheless, many appointed ministers are not part of the coalition. This is the case of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, who was minister under Monti and Letta for European Affairs. The Prime Minister himself, while sympathiser of the Five Stars movement, was not involved directly in politics before and is not a member of Parliament. This is not completely unprecedented in Italian history, because other Prime Ministers before have not been members of Parliament, Renzi, Ciampi e Dini, for example.

Paolo Savona, who was at the centre of the crisis for being unacceptable as Minister of Finances according to the President of the Republic, has been moved to a ministry without portfolio. A minister without portfolio is a ministry that involves less responsibility, as it does not involve the management of a Ministry.

Further updates will be forthcoming as the situation develops.

Did you enjoy learning more about Italy’s institutional crisis?  Try our handy guide to Italian elections or a comparative analysis of federalism and decentralisation!

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The first victory comes in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and the song Non ho l’età. The second one in 1990 with Toto Cutugno and Insieme: 1992, a song about bringing the disparate nations of Europe together. The “1992” of the title refers to the year in which the European Union was scheduled to begin operation.

This year Italy will be represented by the duo Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro, winners of the Sanremo Music Festival with the song Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente (You haven’t done anything to me).

Ermal Meta is an albanian-born italian singer and songwriter. He is one of the most successful writers of the last decade in Italy with eight platinum records and seven gold in the last five years alone.

Fabrizio Moro, born in Rome, has began writing and arranging his first songs as a teenager. He studied at Rome’s Roberto Rossellini Film and Television Institute, teaching himself to play the guitar. He rose to fame in 2007, after winning the Newcomers’ Section of the Sanremo Music Festival with his entry Pensa.

The lyrics of their song, written with Andrea Febo, talks about wars, terrorist attacks, referring directly to terrible events such as the attack at Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Cairo and London.

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like  Finland: Road to Eurovision and  Macedonia: Road to Eurovision

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However, given the limited options, a new government formed by both the 5 Star Movement (5SM) and the Democratic Party (DP) it’s in the country best interest, as it would set aside 1) the possibility of a right wing government with both the moderate and the extremist right as main partners, 2) a North League-5SM government and 3) new elections, that would further strenghten DP’s counterparts.

The DP already tried to form a government with the 5SM in 2013, but they failed to reach mutual understanding due to the 5SM hardline. This time could be different: the leader of the 5SM Luigi Di Maio seems more collaborative than his previous colleagues, although how and with whom he intends to carry out the negotiations remains to be seen.

If they were both open to such an agreement, they would have to compromise and share key government positions; the move would not be appreciated by both the respective voter bases, but that’s not surprising: every government coming out of this mess would displease large portions of the electorate. Sure, it is diffcult to imagine how parties which fought like cat and dog throughout the past years could lead a government without significant frictions or agree on a single program in the first place, but that would not be the first time though: the Democratic Party pondered – and consolidated – alliances with Berlusconi and other right-wing parties multiple times in the past.

Another, and maybe more likely, option would be for the DP to offer its external support, by letting the 5SM govern with its vote of confidence in the Parliament’s two chambers. Let’s be clear: doesn’t matter what moves the DP makes, its numbers are not going to rise in the short and the mid-term. As a citizen though, I am more concerned about the future of my country than the party’s fate.
Unfortunately, most of the DP leading figures rule out any form of alliance. They reject this idea with conviction, arguing that the party’s future is clearly to the opposition. That’s an easy way to escape responsibility though: Germany’s Socialdemocratic Party (SPD) offers a clear example of a deafeted party governing the country again to not let the far right gain power; the possibility of an extremist government should worry the Democrats as well. It should also be remembered that the DP is still the second most voted party: a M5S-DP government would represent more italians than a M5S-North League coalition.

Last week a Dutch-led group of North-European countries issued a document which clearly opposes the proto-federalist and reformist pathway outlined by the Franco-German axis, despite the Rome Declaration signed on March 25th; Macron and the German government need a strong, europhile Italy. While the 5 Star Movement is not exactly the best partner for a staunch Europeanist, it is the best we can get at this moment. We can’t allow for Germany and France to be crushed between nationalist approaches from both North and South.

The right has not the needed majority to form a governing coalition, but they are closer than anyone. As we all know, politics is unpredictable and if responsibility does not prevail we could experience the same shock which hit the United States in 2016.

Welcome, President Salvini.

Discover more about the Italian Elections

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On 4th March, Italian voters will be electing the Parliament, the primary legislative organ of the country, for the next five years. Voters will elect the 630 deputies and 315 senators that make up the two chambers of the Parliament. After the vote, the coalition with the parliamentary majority will be tasked with forming a government.

The elections come after a troubled legislature: none of the three main party coalitions that competed in the 2013 general elections managed to achieve a majority, and political fragmentation has only increased since then.

With Italy being the third largest economy in the Eurozone, the elections come at a critical time. A victory from Eurosceptic parties, or the more likely scenario of a hung Parliament, might well compromise prospects of European reforms, currently being spearheaded by France and Germany.

Electoral System

Voters will elect members of Parliament through a mixed system that includes proportional and majoritarian elements. Every Italian citizen over 18 years of age has the right to vote for the lower house of Parliament, known as the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chamber is composed of 630 deputies. Of these, 232 will be elected in single-member constituencies, through a first-past-the-post system. A further 386 deputies will be selected in multi-member constituencies, through a proportional system. Finally, the remaining twelve seats are reserved for abroad and overseas constituencies.

Only citizens over the age of 25 are eligible to vote for senators. The Senate, which constitutes Italy’s upper chamber, is composed of 315 electable senators, and a variable number of senators for life – Italian citizens who have served or honored the country with distinction, appointed by the President of the Republic, as well as former Presidents themselves.
Senators are also elected through a mixed system: 116 will be elected in single-member, FPTP constituencies. A further 193 will be elected in multi-member constituencies, proportionally. Six senators are reserved for abroad and overseas constituencies.

Panachage, which is the practice of voting for different candidates or parties in the two systems, is not allowed. The voter cannot simultaneously select a candidate in the FPTP constituency and a proportional list which is not linked to them.

The two chambers are equal in powers and responsibilities. The threshold to enter the Italian Parliament will be 3% for single parties, 10% for coalitions.

Main Candidates

A plethora of parties will compete for Parliament seats, but the elections remain fundamentally a three-horse race between Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right coalition, the center-left Democratic Party, and the Five Stars Movement.

The center-right coalition is led by Silvio Berlusconi and his party Forza Italia, although Berlusconi himself cannot hold public office after a tax fraud indictment. The coalition includes the centrist Christian Democratic Union, and two populist, nationalist parties: Matteo Salvini’s Northern League (recently rebranded as just League) and Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.

The center-left coalition is led by the incumbent Democratic Party. The coalition also includes a liberal, pro-European party called More Europe. Two further junior partners bolster the ranks: green-left party Together and centrist party Popular Civic List.

The Five Stars Movement is a party run by a private Italian marketing firm. Their top candidate is Luigi di Maio, although unelected comedian Beppe Grillo maintains ownership and contractual control of the movement. The party seeks support from both left wing and right wing voters, and does not join in coalitions with other parties ahead of general elections.

The electoral campaign has been marred by increasing tension and violence as fringe parties on the far left and the far right took to the streets in a string of protests and counter-protests. Politically motivated attacks and stabbings have followed in the wake of the Macerata incident, a drive-by shooting by Northern League member and former candidate Luca Traini, who gravely wounded six African migrants.

Main Issues

Italy is experiencing steady if sluggish economic growth, and the campaign has seen a decline in anti-European rhetoric. With that in mind, the European Union remains one of the critical points of the campaign, together with fiscal policies and immigration.

Economy

Italy’s modest economic growth is hampered by real and perceived economic inequality, as well as unemployment, which remains high by EU standards. More pressingly, public debt remains high, at over 130% of GDP. In this context, several parties have campaigned on contradicting economic platforms, promising handouts, decreased taxation and further government spending, while also promising to cut back on deficit – obviously incompatible propositions, whose discrepancies are clearly illustrated by the graph below.

The center-right coalition’s response to the sluggish Italian economy and high deficit exemplifies this ambiguity: on the one hand, Berlusconi’s coalition proposes a 15% flat tax with further tax credits for businesses. On the other, it pledges higher State expenditure on pensions and handouts.

The Democratic Party has pledged to introduce a 10 € minimum wage, along with other fiscal measures that would see a climb in State expenditure, including subsidies for Italian farmers. More Europe’s proposals differ from that of its main coalition partner, being more liberal oriented and prescribing a decrease in direct taxation, coupled with an increase in indirect taxation.

On fiscal policies, the Five Stars plan to introduce a universal basic income of 780 € for individuals, with higher sums for families, among other expenses. They also want to reduce the deficit, however – by a whopping 40% within ten years. As always, they are transformists – Luigi di Maio recently pledged to uphold the Fiscal Compact, while the party programme explicitly calls for ignoring it.

Migration

As a result of the Libyan civil war, over 600,000 migrants have landed on Italy’s shores in the past four years, and the question of integration and the response to the crisis remains acute in the minds of Italian voters.

The center-right coalition is outspokenly in favor of curbing migration and deporting illegal immigrants. Berlusconi has made a point of this after the Macerata shooting, accusing immigrants of being a “ticking bomb” and pledging to deport 600,000 illegals which he alleges reside in the country. The coalition supports a European Marshall Plan for Africa to stem the flow of incoming migrants.

The Democratic Party, along with its coalition, also suggests bilateral deals and European initiatives to reduce the flow of people heading north. The center-left also supports cutting EU funds to countries, like Poland and Hungary, who refused to share the burden with other European countries during the high peak of the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean. The Democratic Party also supports a citizenship law reform, proposing ius soli as a replacement for ius sanguinis.

The Five Stars are hardliners against illegal migration, although they have touched on the issue with less frequency compared to Lega Nord and other right-wing parties.

The European Union

Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition has ambiguous attitudes to European integration. Brothers of Italy and the Northern League are vehemently Eurosceptic, although their rhetoric has somewhat softened during the campaign.
On the contrary, the center-left coalition is outspokenly pro-European: More Europe in particular calls for outright European unity in a federal framework, whereas the Democratic Party remains pro-integration, with caveats on the Fiscal Compact. The Five Stars are also Eurosceptic, and a Eurozone membership referendum sits high atop their political agenda. Conducting said referendum would require amending the Italian Constitution.

It’s worth noting that Italians have historically been among the most pro-European nationalities on the continent. This has recently changed: according to a study by the Jacques Delors institute, less than 40% of Italians have a favorable view of the EU, down from 80% in the 1990s.

One caveat however is that Italians are peculiar in their dissatisfaction: most Italians favor the continuation and deepening of further, common European policies. In several areas, including migration, Italian voters would like the EU to do more, not less, and regret that initiatives are not more efficient.

Polls

Current polls see the center-right coalition in the lead with a 38% share of voting preferences, some ten points ahead of the center-left coalition. The Five Stars are Italy’s single largest party, polling consistently between 26 and 28%.

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In fact, acting as a profession began in Europe, specifically in the northern Italian city of Padua, in 1545: for the first time in history, a group of actors undersigned a notarial deed to form a company with the sole purpose of earning money thanks to their work.

This new form of theatre was called Commedia dell’arte, literally ancient Italian for “comedy of the profession”: it was highly popular across Europe from the 16th through to the 18th century.

Commedia dell’arte was characterized by innovative features:

• the audience paid a ticket, contrary to previous practice when princes sponsored shows and offered them to the public for free;
• the plays were performed in private theatres, instead of open squares;
• the actors specialized in archetypal, stock characters and resorted to a combination of fixed jokes, recurrent physical gags and scenario-based improvisation to perform their plays;
• the language depended on each character, which usually had peculiar origins: during a show, the audience would hear a bunch of different Italian languages, but also other European languages like Spanish or French.

  

What is arguably the most important and successful novelty was introduced around 1570: Commedia dell’arte brought women on stage and let them become actresses. Female roles then began to be represented by women, instead of men. This fact caused curiosity among the public and harsh criticism from the clergy. The Church inveighed against the comedians and even attempted to marginalize them, denying them sacraments and refusing to bury them in consecrated ground.

Funnily enough, this increased, rather than stifled the appeal of the companies: they created a parallel society with its own rules and ways of living, where the people who didn’t fit into contemporary society felt more at ease.

The shows were mainly about love, sex, jealousy and old age, but also local scandals and current events. Nowadays, people remember Commedia dell’arte mostly for its stock characters, also called maschere (the Italian word for “masks”) because several costumes included actual masks. They can be categorized in families.

Gli Innamorati, or “the lovers”

Typically, there would be one or two couples of young, rich, hopeless lovers in each play. They were characterized by being overly dramatic and very fashionable. They spoke perfect Tuscan Italian and had noble-sounding names, such as Rosaura or Isabella for women and Flavio or Flaminio for men.

I Vecchi, or “the old men”

The purpose of these characters was to ridicule stereotypical, old Italian men. In a play, there were usually two of them and they were fathers to some Innamorati, whose love they obstructed. Their traits included being mean, suspicious and immoral, they usually fell in love with much younger women and competed with younger men, even if they never stood a chance. The two main stock characters are:

• Pantalone, or Pantaloon, a Venetian merchant. He’s extremely greedy, petty and self-absorbed. Even if he thinks very highly of himself, the other characters consider him a fool.
• Balanzone, or Il Dottore, a Bolognese erudite. He represents a parody of the educated intellectual class: he attended the University of Bologna and presents himself as an expert on all fields, even if for the most part he doesn’t have any idea of what he’s talking about. He comically pairs with Pantalone, either as a friend, mentor or competitor.

Gli Zanni, or “the male servants”

The male servants were usually the dynamic centerpiece of the comedy and were fundamental in developing the romantic intrigue. There were usually two of them: one was cunning and sharp, while the other was dumb and chaotic.

• Arlecchino, or Harlequin, is probably the most iconic maschera, distinguished by his colourful, chequered costume. Born as the dumb servant, later on he became smarter and romantic. Even though he was presented as originating from lower Bergamo, it can be said that he’s the most pan-European character: his speech became a mixture of Italian and French as he gained popularity.There are several fascinating theories about the European origin of his name. “Harlequin” could be indeed a variation of French Hellequin, the leader of a group of demons who chased the souls of the damned in medieval French passion plays. At the same time, “Hellequin” is connected to English Herla cyning, German Erlkönig and Danish ellekonge: they are all mythological figures who represent the “king of the fairies” or one of the leaders of the pagan Wild Hunt.Finally, a carnivalesque, mischievous devil named Alichino is found in Dante’s Inferno. Not by coincidence, the primary aspect of Arlecchino was physical agility, used mainly to trick other characters.
• Pierrot is an example of maschera born later and outside of Italy; in fact, he started to appear in the late 1600s in Paris. Famous for being a sad clown, he originated as a naive and clumsy servant.

Il Capitano, or “the Captain”

This category of stock characters represent the parody of men who brag and lie about their past, benefiting from the fact that they are usually unknown to the locals. They often speak highly of their bravery, but in the end are easily frightened.

Based on Plautus’s Miles gloriosus and Terence’s Eunuchus, those characters were often Spaniards and bore ironic names, such as Capitan Spaventa (Italian for “Captain Fear”), Fracassa (Italian, “Uproar”), Matamoros (Spanish, “Killer of Moors) and Scaramuccia or Scaramouche (Italian and French, both “Skirmish”).

La Servetta, or “the serving maid”

Typically a counterpart to the Zanni characters. The most famous character is called Colombina, also spelled Columbina or Colombine. She was very down-to-earth, intelligent and gossipy. Her primary role was that of a servant to the Innamorata: her job was to help the latter gain the affection of her beloved.

Colombina also boasted a love interest of her own: she often played the role of Harlequin’s lover, or even Pierrot’s wife – whose heart usually broke. She also had to fend off advances by Pantaloon and the Captain.

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Defining Decentralisation

The definition of decentralisation changes accordingly to different States and constitutional traditions, but generally, decentralisation means the transfer of legislative powers to subnational bodies, as well as fiscal and administrative powers. Sometimes, decentralisation includes all of these three elements, but sometimes not.

Federalism on one hand and devolution/decentralisation on the other are two concepts which are strictly interconnected, but essentially different. Indeed, federalism means that State sovereignty is distributed across different level of government, according to a combination of self-rule of the constituent units, and shared rule through federal institutions. Normally, this process of distribution happens country-wide: all territories are affected by the new framework at the same time.

More importantly federal principles must be legally protected within the constitutional framework, so that, while asserting the unity of the federation, the self-rule of its constituent states is intrinsically part of the federal constitutional framework. A constant feature of federal States is that the Upper Chamber/Senate represent the interest and the opinions of constituent units in the law-making process, therefore they must follow subnational boundaries.

Unlike federalism, devolution is the conferral of powers in some limited areas to subnational parliaments. Despite being democratically legitimate bodies, said parliaments remain legally subordinate to the supremacy of the central parliament. This means that, theoretically, the central parliament can recentralise said powers just following an ordinary constitutional procedure or even by simply issuing a parliamentary act. Shared rule is also very limited or non-existent, so that the territorial units have very limited say in the shaping and implementation of nation-wide policies. Additionally, while federalisation is applied to the whole state, devolution can be applied to only one territory or more territories, but not necessarily all of them.

Ultimately, devolution implies a narrow subset of competencies for devolved entities; more importantly, it doesn’t enjoy the same degree of constitutional protection as constituent units in federalism.

Two Ways To Decentralise

Federalisation and devolution are two different ways to perform decentralisation and manage internal differences. In light of these differences, federal States are those that adopt federalism, while decentralised, regionalised or devolved States are those that adopted some form of devolution. Watts collected all the latter under the definition of decentralised unions (Watts 2007: 16): i.e. unitary states adopting some form of decentralisation without being federal.

The difference in constitutional guarantees and conformity to a framework does not necessarily imply a difference in levels of autonomy. On the contrary, it can happen that a region in a decentralised State has relatively the same or even more autonomy than a constituent unit in a federation. Some scholars for instance agree that, although Spain is not a federal State in a classical term, Catalonia has a degree of autonomy that is somehow comparable to that of constituent units of federal States (Ferran Raquejo, 2017). The same can be argued for Scotland within the UK.

There are at least three cases of devolved/decentralised States in Europe: these are the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. All three have some common patterns, but very different features. The Netherlands too represents another case of decentralised unitary state, even if the Dutch case will not be explored in depth here.

The United Kingdom

The UK is the quintessential case of a devolved State. The country is the result of the merger of two kingdoms in 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, leading to the dismissal of the Scottish Parliament and its merger into Westminster. Similarly, the acts of Union of 1800 led to the merger of the Parliament of Ireland into the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a settlement that lasted until Irish independence.

Centuries after this merger, the United Kingdom underwent a process of devolution beginning in the 1990s. In this process, the Scottish Parliament was re-established. In the following years, through a series of acts, the Westminster Parliament conferred a series of fiscal, political and administrative powers, previously the prerogative of Westminster, to Holyrood. After the 2014 independence referendum, and following the report of the Smith Commission, Scotland was given more powers over some fiscal and administrative areas.

Wales underwent a similar process and, after a devolution referendum in 2011, it enjoyed a further increase in competences. Similarly, Northern Ireland enjoys self-rule and devolved powers. The United Kingdom remains a strongly asymmetrical system, since Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have three different forms of devolution and, unlike the others, England does not have a national parliament. Westminster makes laws for England thanks to an “English Votes for English Laws” procedure. Ultimately, because of the absence of a written constitution, devolution is guaranteed by parliamentary acts only and the ultimate authority rests with the UK Parliament.

Spain

The case of devolution in Spain has sparked considerable debate. In fact, even though some scholars argue that Spain is a de facto federation, others (Gagnon-Keil-Mueller 2015, Requejo 2005, Filippov–Ordeshook-Shvetsova 2004, Griffiths-Neremberg 2002, 2005, Watts 1999, Stepan 1999, Elazar 1991) argue for the opposite: i.e. that it is a devolved system, including many elements of federalism, but not entirely a federal State. Therefore, some define Spain a quasi-federation.

The Spanish Autonomous Communities are not constituent units. Some of the current communities have deep historical roots, others were artificially created after the new constitution came into force. The judicial power is still centralised, and the Senate, unlike Upper Chambers in federal systems, is not linked to the Autonomous Communities; thus, reducing their role in making state-wide policies.

Similarly, on the field of taxation, autonomous communities (with the sole exception of the Basque countries) have limited tax-raising powers, which remain in the hands of the central government, providing for redistributing fiscal resources to the Communities. Again, Autonomous Communities have no official role in the constitutional reform process, which remains mostly in the hands of the central parliament and to State wide referendums. These main elements are the reason why, although Spanish Autonomies display a high degree of agency that is typical of federal States, classifying Spain as a federation is inaccurate: its constitution simply does not reflect it.

Italy

Italy is an asymmetric system combining both elements of federalism and devolution at the same time. The result is that Italy shows traits of being a federal State under development (Palermo, Woelk 2007), stuck between those two different solutions. The federalisation of Italy has been a very long process, but the turning point is represented by the constitutional reform of 2001, amending the 5th Title of the Constitution, and increasing the competences of ordinary regions.

Italy is divided into twenty regions, five of which are designated as Regions with Special Statute (RSS). The remaining fifteen are Regions with Ordinary Statute (ROS). While the statutes of the Autonomous Regions are ranked with the Constitution in the hierarchy of Italian laws, the statute of the other ordinary regions ranks as ordinary law, and therefore subordinate to the Constitution. This disparity makes Italy an asymmetrical political system following two different tracks of decentralisation: the one applied to the RSS, modelled after a federalist paradigm; and the one applied to the other fifteen regions, modelled after a devolved system. It’s a devolutionary, asymmetric federal hybrid system, still in development. (Palermo, Woelk 2017).

In addition to this fundamental element, RSS have both exclusive and residual legislative powers, while ROS only have residual ones. Ordinary regions enjoy limited fiscal autonomy, although their degree of administrative autonomy is relatively high. In fact, while the Special Statute Regions have a constitutional right to their fiscal revenues, the other regions do not, and are subject to State transfers.

Unlike Spain and the United Kingdom, the Italian Senate follows a regional allocation criterion, as stated by Article 57. Nevertheless senators are not elected by regional bodies, and generally do not represent regional or subnational interests, but normally follow national partisan lines. Regional minority parties in Special Statute Regions are an exception to this.

The many attempts to change the nature of the Senate into a House of Regions have so far met with no success. Currently, the Senate isn’t the chamber of local interests and autonomy, but a perfect equivalent in powers and prerogatives as the Chamber of Deputies. The Permanent State and Regions Conference plays that role of forum for the national and regional governments, but it is a consultative body, with no role in the law-making process.

For these reasons, Italy is strongly regionalised but mostly decentralised unitary state, since it lacks the features that most federal States have.

Conclusions

Devolution and federalisation represent two possible paths of distributing powers within a polity. They are conceptually different systems, but hybrid solutions are possible; more, they can both lead to the outcome of boosting and securing local autonomies and manage internal diversities. There is no better or worse option, since the final outcome of both processes very much depends on a series of factors: like, for instance, the different cultural, economic and institutional backgrounds, the way it is introduced and the constitutional framework underlying.

This article is the second of the series “United, But How?”, which aims to illustrate key concepts of federalist theory. For the first episode, click here.

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Each region has different cultural and food backgrounds like the Arabic in Sicily, the Greek/Turkish in Puglia, the French in Piedmont and the Spanish in Sardinia. Pasta and pizza are surely the queens of Italian food and with this base, it is possible to prepare very different dishes. Pasta can be served with simply with tomato sauce as with pesto (a sauce based on basil) or with vegetables like eggplants or meat like the ragù. Desserts can be very different depending on the region. Tiramisù in Northern Italy or Babà in Naples, you are spoiled for choice! There are also numerous types of Italian wines in Tuscany, Sicily, Abruzzo, Puglia and Sardinia and several liqueurs like limoncello in the Southern regions and Grappa in Veneto. We will focus this article on one of the most particular Italian cuisines: Sicilian cuisine!

Sicilian cuisine show traces of all different cultures which have existed on the island. Sicily can be considered one of (if not the first) cradles of Italian cuisine. In fact, during 5^th century BC, the Sicilian cook Mithaecus wrote a cookbook about Sicilian gastronomy and it is the earliest cookbook in any language whose author is known! Moreover, Sicily is the oldest Italian and Western location where pasta was found. The first traces, in fact, date back to the 12^th century as attested by the Tabula Rogeriana of Muhammad al-Idrisi. The most traditional types of pasta are “Pasta alla norma” with eggplants and pasta with sardines. The use of sugar, citrus, apricots, saffron, raisins, and cinnamon is obviously a sign o Arab influence. Probably the most symbolic one is the traditional couscous from Trapani.

Other influences are the Norman above all in the meat dishes and the Greek one on the east side of the island where fish, olives, broad beans and pistachio are preferred. Sicilian desserts are so various and numerous that it would be impossible to list all of them. We will mention “cannoli” with ricotta, the famous “cassata” and the traditional lemon or almond “granita” usually served with the so-called “brioche”. Sweet wines like “marsala” and “zibibbo” usually are served with these desserts.

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