Print version

Towards an Atlantic Area? Perspectives from Italy

08/09/2015

On the whole sceptical about the notion of an emerging pan-Atlantic space, Italian stakeholders converged around the necessity of strengthening the transatlantic relationship as the primary means to ensure a continued relevance on the world stage and greater conformity to EU-US norms and standards among Atlantic countries. While impossible to ignore the rising influence of Asia and China in the Atlantic, Europe and the US maintain certain margins of influence and leverage within this space. Supportive of the TTIP, stakeholders emphasised Europe’s internal divisions, a lack of trust and the persistence of paternalism in North-South relations as the primary obstacles for the emergence of closer cooperation among Atlantic countries.

Paper produced within the framework of the Atlantic Future project, September 2015. The preliminary results of the interviews were presented at the Atlantic Future Seminar in Lisbon, April 2015.

Related content