L'évolution de la relation franco-italienne à travers les sommets bilatéraux de 1981 à 2011

When considering the "relationship to the world" of a country such as Italy, European and bilateral frameworks are often not taken into account. Yet European integration represents a model in which bilateral interaction does not disappear; on the contrary. The relationship between France and Italy is the product of a long and peculiar history. Since the 1980s, annual bilateral summits have been used to measure improvements in the relationship between Rome and Paris, but the scarce content of the meetings indicates the difficulties involved in creating a special relationship. Bilateral summits represent a stage in the institutionalization of bilateral relations, a formal framework whose added value in terms of establishing alliances within the European arena goes beyond the purely bilateral dimension.

Keywords: France, Italy, bilateral relations, misunderstandings, europeanization