Italy’s chances of extricating itself from a deepening political crisis were already looking bad when talks about government formation dragged on through April into May. These, he claimed, could provoke Italy’s exit from the eurozone, which, in European law, could become Italy’s exit from the European Union altogether. A new election, moreover, would be dominated by the question of Italy’s place in Europe. As an integral political insider and a large eurozone economy, Italy therefore possesses a far greater potential to destabilise the European project than the always more semi-detached Britain. The risks to the overly rigid EU project have seldom been more serious.

Source: The Guardian May 28, 2018 16:30 UTC