Italians most skeptical about international trade: more disadvantages than benefits

Brussels – It’s bad for quality, bad for health, bad for jobs. Italians don’t like free trade, so much so that they reject it without appeal. While the European Commission has its work cut out to convince of the importance of multilateralism and trade openness with the rest of the world, Italy is most skeptical of all about the usefulness and positive return of trade. Just 45 percent of Italians surveyed believe that trade produces benefits. No one among the 27 Members of the European Union is more skeptical than Italy. And only Slovenia (49 percent) has a non-positive perception of trade cooperation.

The new Eurobarometer survey detects an Italian tendency to reject a model of globalization that is considered harmful. It bucks the trend since, on average, six out of ten Europeans (62 percent) defend trade and push to continue in this direction. For Italians, however, risks exceed opportunities. In Italy, one in five (22 percent) see too much international trade as a negative spillover for jobs. ‘Trade breeds unemployment’: that’s the thinking of a slice of Italy’s men and women. In addition, three in ten Italians (31 percent) see the excess flow of goods reducing the quality of the finished product.

That’s not all: from the north to the south, people see the opening of the single market as an over-exposure to competition. Most respondents (56 percent) raise shields and call for imposing limits on imports that can damage the ‘made in’ in the various national and European economic sectors, whether agriculture or industry. Not surprisingly, the first answer (47 percent) among the shortlist of options given to describe the future of EU trade negotiations is the one urging the EU to protect businesses and consumers before sealing any free trade agreement.

At the same time, however, Italians would like foreign operators to come and do business in the country. Two out of three people (66 percent) would be willing to open the country to non-EU investors. And one in two (50 percent) say they favor selling off  ‘the family jewels,’ selling off Italian companies to foreign groups.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Trade, accepts the challenge posed by Italy: “We still need to do much more to better explain to Europeans the added value of trade and dispel misconceptions.” Trade, he insists, “has a role to play in protecting European consumers, producers, and farmers, as well as in strengthening the EU’s competitiveness and economic security.”