Professor Giuseppe Schiavone
Director, Institute of European Studies "Alcide de Gasperi", Rome

Giuseppe Schiavone is Professor of International Organization, University of Catania, and Head of the International and European Union Area at the Italian National School of Public Administration, Rome. He is President of the Institute of European Studies “Alcide De Gasperi”, Rome and of the Institut Robert Schuman pour l'Europe (IRSE), Scy-Chazelles, France.

Professor Schiavone's main field of interest is the analysis of the structure and activities of intergovernmental organizations, with a special focus on regional groupings in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The enlargement and reform of the European Union and the adoption of a constitutional treaty are at present a major research area.

His publications include several monographs and numerous articles in scientific journals, mainly in English. He is author of International Organizations: A Dictionary and Directory (6th edition, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

THE GROLLO RUZZENE PUBLIC LECTURE

2pm Saturday 14 April

ITALY’S COMMITMENT TO EUROPE
From Maastricht and the euro to reviving the constitutional process

by Giuseppe Schiavone

The paper deals with the evolution of Italian foreign policy with special emphasis on the developments since the early 1990s when the Maastricht treaty was adopted and the economic and monetary union (EMU) gradually established. Generally speaking it may be assumed that Italy has not always played in the past an adequate role on the European and world stage owing to several reasons including the lack of a coherent long-term perspective of major actors in the domestic political system. A more critical assessment of the country’s medium and long-term interests seems to be gradually emerging with reference to the key challenges the EU is now facing, from further enlargement to the viability of the eurozone to the relaunch of the stalled constitutional treaty. According to the paper, times may be now ripe for a more active foreign policy vis-à-vis Europe, the US and Asian aspiring superpowers such as China and India