Italy emerged as the prime candidate to follow in the footsteps of Britain after a majority of voters gave their support to the eurosceptic Lega and Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) parties in the last general election in 2018. Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) MP Fabio Rampelli, whose party also joined the government due to their electoral alliance with Lega’s leader Matteo Salvini, appeared to signal Italexit could still be on the table as he launched a scathing attack on the European Union on Thursday. Speaking to Italian news channel La7, the vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies said: “We don’t want, we have always said, to do without Europe but the EU must be radically changed.
“There’s a conservative instinct according to which everything that has been decided – even if it produces devastating consequences socially, economically, financially, on jobs and on migration – cannot be touched.
“We can’t touch the Dublin Regulation – everyone wants to change it but it can’t be touched. We can’t change it because that requires unanimity and if Liechtenstein comes out saying it doesn’t agree, the Dublin Regulation can’t be touched.
“We have to come to an understanding. The EU does not have to be managed, it must be re-founded and it’s crucial this process takes place.”
While Liechtenstein and the EU have an extensive relationship, the principality is not a member of the European Union.
The Italian MP insisted the policies Brussels is currently pursuing are not helping the member states reach their full potential as he blamed “selfishness” among larger EU members like France and Germany for holding others back.
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Mr Rampelli continued: “In the era of global markets, with the US giant on one side and China on the other, with emerging economies reaching everywhere on every issue, we need a strong continent. A continent free of selfish behaviours.
“And selfishness, with Germany and France at the forefront, is damaging the EU’s chances to be competitive on the international scene, with all the negative consequences this strategy has on member states, Italy first of all.”
Germany and France are considered to be the top influential members of the bloc due to their prominent role as the first and second economies in the eurozone respectively.
The latest data placed Italy third behind the two despite the economic struggles the Southern European Republic has faced since the 2008 global economic meltdown.
Speaking to Express.co.uk in June, two analysts picked Italy when asked which EU country would be most likely to quit the bloc next.
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However, Mr Salvini last week announced his partnership with the M5S had come to a close as he tabled a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the Senate.
Addressing senators in Rome earlier this week, the Lega leader said the Government will go ahead with a scheduled vote to cut the number of MPs but insisted the country return to the polls in the autumn.
An Italian election could trigger disaster for the European Union after a shock Ipsos survey revealed if a new vote was held, right-wing parties – Lega, the far-right of Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia would take 50.6 percent of the vote.
And the former Italian Prime Minister-turned MEP could be the only one capable of stopping Mr Salvini to come out on top at the polls. According to pollster Mannheimer: “The only political party that could change Salvini’s number is one putting forward Silvio Berlusconi as its lead candidate.”
“He could pull a miracle by bringing together centric parties and this could erode some of Salvini’s consensus among unhappy voters and those who see him as too extreme.”