May 2020: Piazza del Popolo, Rome. (Shutterstock)
If asked whether Italy could be the next country to leave the EU, an Italian European loyalist would probably answer the question: “
Certo che no. Che idea sciocca!” Of course not. What a daft idea!
They would then
offer a list of reasons why not: the European flag flies alongside the Italian tricolour outside all public buildings; the founding treaty of the European Economic Community that later became the EU was signed in Italy’s capital in 1957; and Italy was a founding member of the European Monetary Union, replacing the Lira with the Euro in 1999. Surely it would be unthinkable for Italy to leave the EU?