Italy in the Mediterranean: Priorities and perspective of a European middle-power

Italy has long looked at the Mediterranean not only as a mere determinant of its geographical collocation but as the main source of opportunities and challenges for its domestic and foreign policy actions. The historical inter-linkages that have shaped Italy’s preferential relations to the territories and peoples of the so-called Mediterranean region are so numerous that what we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. However, as of today the Mediterranean remains a fundamental point of reference and a driver for Italy’s foreign policy projection as well as for the making of its domestic politics. Nowhere is this more evident than in the profound links that exist today more than ever between the Italian perspectives on migration flows across the Mediterranean, on the one hand, and the approach developed to address them both in foreign and domestic policy, on the other.

To analyse the drivers and priorities of Italy’s strategy in the Mediterranean and the implications for the European Union, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and Fondazione EYU have promoted the report entitled “Italy in the Mediterranean: Priorities and perspectives of a European middle-power” carried out by Silvia Colombo, Head of the Mediterranean & Middle East Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali, and Anja Palm, IAI Junior Researcher. The report will be launched in an initiative that will significantly be held in Palermo on Friday 15 February, with the distinguished participation, besides the two authors, of Mr. Piero Fassino, Vice Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Armando Barucco, Head of the Unit for Analysis, Planning and Historic Diplomatic Documentation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Prof. Stefania Panebianco, Associate Professor at the University of Catania.

Check the programme of the conference

The report will be soon available for download from FEPS website.