Economic reform strategies and recovery policies in Italy from Conte to Draghi

Two main aims characterized the 2018-2022 Italian economic policy. The first was reforming the whole economic system to stop the so-called ‘Italian decline’ that eroded the competitiveness and growth of the Italian economy for decades. The second was recovering from an impressive sequence of crises (the Eurozone crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and later the consequences of war in Ukraine) that endangered the Italian economic system and the sustainability of the Italian public debt. This paper analyses the crucial steps in the reform strategies and recovery policies carried out by the three governments that led Italy from 2018 to 2022, particularly emphasizing the oscillating relationship between the three Italian governments and the European Union. To this end, particular attention will be devoted to the Conte governments’ economic reform proposals and the subsequent recovery strategies. These proposals will be drawn from some crucial documents: the Government contract for the first Conte government, the Colao plan, and the first draft of the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) prepared during the last days of the second Conte government. These documents will be compared with the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza approved under the Draghi government. The paper will also discuss the role of the EU in addressing Italian economic and recovery policies.