Despite significant divergence in their respective views on Europe, the main parties in Italy appear to agree on one thing: enough of austerity. In a country that is yet to return to its GDP levels of before the 2008 crisis and where unemployment is rife, there is an agreement across the board on the need for investment and action to revive growth. While there are areas of agreement between the Five Star Movement, the anti-establishment party that is currently in power, and the opposition, centre-left Democratic Party, the big winner of the upcoming European elections appears set to be the most Eurosceptic party of all: the League, led by Matteo Salvini. Having covered party pledges in Germany (see article n°11105), Poland (see article n°11119), Sweden (see article n°11128) and France (see article n°11131) ahead of the European elections, we now take a look at Italy.
The League’s Eurosceptic stance. The League, which is set to claim around 30% of the vote according to the polls, is placing great emphasis on the personality of Matteo Salvini and has not unveiled a manifesto, instead taking up the key concepts of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group. During its closing meeting on Saturday 18 May in Milan, which was notably attended by Marine Le Pen, Salvini underlined that the elections mark a “historic moment” to free the continent from the “abusive occup
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