ock Italy's badly needed constitutional and economic reforms (The Economist, 2000).
Clearly, Italy is not out of the woods just yet. For the future, the question remains: Can the European Union sustain Italy, providing an ongoing incentive for further economic reforms? And, perhaps more compelling: Should it?
The European Community was founded in 1958, and since that time Italy has benefited (The Economist, 1992). In September of 1992, The Economist made mention of some key points regarding Italy's relationship with the European Community, citing that
Few peoples in Europe have been as unequivocally pro-EC as the Italians. Their membership of the Community from its outset has coincided with a period of dramatic economic growth that has transformed the country from peasant poverty to pleasant prosperity (Economist, 1992).
Emerging from World War II, the Italian Republic was faced with many issues of material and moral reconstruction(Windows on Italy, 1999). In an economic sense, the transition from agriculture to industry would occupy the nation for decades, and the European Community would consistently boost the energy and stability of Italy, imposing reforms which would ultimately add to the momentum of positive economic change(The Economist, 1999).
By the 1960s, the majority of the work force in Italy had migrated to the north, employed in the industrial sector as agriculture continued to diminish (WOI, 1999). Indeed, it is compelling to note that considerable standard and economic concessions provided to Italy during this time would ultimately reflect negatively on their national economy, which had grown weak due to a high level of consumption and
...