This chapter investigates the Italian public attitudes towards the European Union between 2020 and 2024, by applying the original analytical framework distinguishing different types of threats and crises. As a country historically marked by volatile support for integration and repeated exposure to transnational pressures, Italy offers a revealing lens into the dynamics of EU contingent legitimacy. Drawing on original three-waves survey data, the chapter analyses how different types of challenges produce distinct public reactions. While solidaristic responses to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine temporarily boosted support for supranational coordination, sovereignty-sensitive issues such as migration reinforced scepticism and national closure. The findings highlight how elite framing, institutional responsiveness, and national vulnerability mediate the politicization of crises, leading to context-specific evaluations of the EU. Ultimately, the chapter shows that Italy exemplifies how polycrisis reconfigures the conditions under which support for European integration is mobilized, constrained, or renegotiated.

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How Threats and Crises Shaped Italian Attitudes Towards the European Union (2020–2024)

  • Giuliano Bobba,
  • Antonella Seddone

摘要

This chapter investigates the Italian public attitudes towards the European Union between 2020 and 2024, by applying the original analytical framework distinguishing different types of threats and crises. As a country historically marked by volatile support for integration and repeated exposure to transnational pressures, Italy offers a revealing lens into the dynamics of EU contingent legitimacy. Drawing on original three-waves survey data, the chapter analyses how different types of challenges produce distinct public reactions. While solidaristic responses to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine temporarily boosted support for supranational coordination, sovereignty-sensitive issues such as migration reinforced scepticism and national closure. The findings highlight how elite framing, institutional responsiveness, and national vulnerability mediate the politicization of crises, leading to context-specific evaluations of the EU. Ultimately, the chapter shows that Italy exemplifies how polycrisis reconfigures the conditions under which support for European integration is mobilized, constrained, or renegotiated.