taly and its Approach to European Integration. European Policy of Italy on a case of the Constitutional Treaty

This diploma thesis "Italy and its Approach to European Integration. European Policy of Italy on a case of the Constitutional Treaty" deals with Italian approach to European Communities/European Union and analyzes it on a case of the debate about the future of the EU, which was held since 2000 and led to the approval of the Constitutional Treaty. Italian position was charaterized as euro-enthusiastic during the whole history of European integration. This paper examines the approach and European policy of Italy after 2000 on the basis of the analysis of speeches, interviews, proposals and documents of Italian political representatives during the debate, which was then continued on the European Convention and after that a new reform was approved by the Intergovernmental Conference. In the meantime, Italy went through the elections and a change of government, which did not inspire confidence concerning the europeistic commitment. Coalition parties were considered as eurosceptic and the traditional defence of Communitarian method and deepening of the integration towards the federation were not awaited. The first part of this thesis deals with the historic background and the traditional europeistic approach. The second part is dedicated to the debate about the future of the EU, separated into several..