Intertwining “Forms of Government”, between Rome and Brussels: the Influence of EU Dynamics on the Handover from Conte I to Conte II Cabinet

This working paper is based on the observation of the close intertwining between the Italian ‘form of government’ and the institutional dynamics of the European Union (EU). It is an intertwining that is often denied by the same political forces and public debate, but which is directly derived from how the EU institutions are designed and their close and inescapable connection with the institutions of each Member State. In the light of this assumption, the working paper analyzes the events that took place at EU level in the aftermath of the elections for the European Parliament held between 23 and 26 May 2019 and those that gave rise to the crisis of the Italian government, which occurred in August 2019, with the handover between the Conte I and the Conte II cabinet. It is argued that the events of the latter government crisis are fully understandable only in the light of the intertwining of the Italian and European ‘forms of government’. The crisis was indeed determined by the different European policies of the two parties composing the yellow-green majority and the stalemate in which the League found itself: a clear winner in the European Parliament elections in Italy, but a loser at the European level. As a conclusion, again from an institutional viewpoint, the strengthening of the Italian President of the Council deriving from its ‘European role’ is highlighted and confirmed, in this case, even with reference to a technocratic figure and a newcomer in Italian politics.