From Federation to External Constraint: Europe in the Italian Constitutional Imagination

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to offer a study of the position of Europe (and European integration) in the Italian constitutional imagination. The argument tracks three moments which have shaped the way European integration (and more generally the horizon of European political unity) has been perceived by Italian constitutional actors (and especially by political parties). The first phase goes from 1943 to 1946 and it is animated by a majority consensus for European political integration, with the exception of the Communist Party. The second phase, starting from the inception of the Constituent Assembly, is one where the telos of European unity does not occupy a central position in the constitutional imagination any longer, and it is 'downgraded' to a question of ordinary politics. The third phase (whose beginning can be conventionally identified with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty) is one where European integration makes a comeback in the constitutional imagination but under the guise of an external bound. In conclusion, the chapter advances the hypothesis that this last phase is marked by the incapacity of Italian political parties to struggle for a constitutional imagination that is not colonised by markets and their imperatives.

Keywords: Political Parties; European Political Unity; Constituent Assembly; Constitutional Imagination; Single Market