Brexit inspires Salvini dream of Italy ditching the euro
Bolstered by UK’s ‘beautiful’ vote, the Northern League leader seeks to exploit Euroscepticism
Matteo Salvini enthusiastically holds up a pamphlet calling for Italy to abandon the euro that is lying on the coffee table in front of him in the Northern League's parliamentary offices in central Rome. The booklet, published by his party before the 2014 European elections, will be updated and released again in thousands of copies, he says.
“Three years ago they thought we were crazy — they looked at us like Martians,” the party leader said, in an interview with the Financial Times. “Now it’s part of the debate."
Emboldened by the Brexit vote in the UK and rising Euroscepticism in the eurozone’s third-largest economy, Mr Salvini is ramping up his push for Italy to leave the single currency. He wants a euro exit to be the main pillar of the Northern League’s platform in national elections set for 2018, at the latest.
“Everyone who votes for us will know that a Northern League government would get rid of the euro and move back to a national currency,” he said, adding that such a move would ideally be done in agreement with other eurozone countries.
But if necessary, Italy might have to take the step unilaterally: “Whatever risk we take will be an improvement compared to certain death [of remaining in the eurozone].”
Mr Salvini is credited with reviving the Northern League, which was almost defunct before he became leader in 2013 and is now challenging Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party for dominance of Italy’s right.
Under his watch, the party has morphed from a focus on the secession of the wealthy north of Italy from the rest of the country, to adopting hardline Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant positions designed to appeal to a rightwing audience across the country.
But the party’s vote share has stalled at 12 per cent to 15 per cent as much of Italy’s disaffected electorate has flocked to the Five Star Movement, which has adopted softer positions on immigration and the euro.
Although Italians have grown increasingly disenchanted with both the EU and the euro in recent years, polls still show strong support for remaining in both.
Nonetheless, Mr Salvini has no qualms about identifying with other rightwing Eurosceptic leaders, such as Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Frauke Petry in Germany.
The British vote in June to exit the EU was “a beautiful breath of oxygen,” he said, adding: “There’s water on Mars and there’s life beyond Brussels.”
The dominant issue in Italian politics, however, is the December 4 referendum on constitutional reform, which could determine the fate of Matteo Renzi, the centre-left prime minister. Polls show the No camp — supported by Mr Salvini — has a slight edge, although many are undecided. Mr Renzi has signalled he will quit if he loses.
“We think we’ll win. The more people talk about it, the more people read about it, the more Renzi goes on television, the more No advances,” Mr Salvini said.
The purpose of the constitutional overhaul, according to Mr Renzi, is to make Italy more stable and easier to govern, since it would strip the Senate of many of its powers and give the central government more control compared with the regions. Mr Salvini does not buy the argument.
“We’re not saying you cannot touch the constitution but you have to touch it well,” he said. “Everything is centralised under the reform and the history of Italy tells you that when you centralise everything nothing works.”
Mr Salvini also dismisses widespread concerns that a No vote would plunge Italy back into political instability, dealing a huge blow to the economy and possibly triggering a financial market crisis. “There will be no catastrophe. On December 5, Italy will be more credible, no matter what Renzi says,” Mr Salvini said.
In order to mount a credible bid to govern Italy, Mr Salvini has been in a seemingly endless cycle of on-and-off talks with Mr Berlusconi about an alliance. But Forza Italia is split between moderates who see a pact with Mr Salvini as unacceptable and conservatives who see it as appealing. “We have waited, we have dialogued, but months have passed without clarification,” he said.
On the domestic economic front, Mr Salvini’s flagship policy is to introduce a 15 per cent flat tax to cut the fiscal burden on Italian households and businesses. He insists he would cover the estimated €63bn cost by stamping out tax evasion and producing more growth. On foreign policy, he believes Italy should cut ties with African nations that do not co-operate on limiting migration, which he has described as an “invasion” threatening European values.
And he has a strong pro-Russian tilt, calling sanctions against Moscow “suicidal” and questioning “demented” Nato deployments in eastern Europe. Mr Salvini also backs Donald Trump for US president, despite the recent tape revealing the Republican candidate’s sexually aggressive comments about women. “Certainly it was not in good taste but it’s bizarre to take morality lessons from Hillary Clinton,” he said.
His main gripe remains with Brussels, however, and he does not rule out leaving the bloc altogether, with the British example firmly in mind. “Let’s take back our currency, then we can discuss at what conditions we can stay in the EU.”