Italians trust EU institutions more than their own government

Brussels – When Rome falters, Brussels reassures. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey conducted between March and April 2025, Italians’ trust in European institutions decisively surpasses that in their national institutions. The data portray a European population that is generally more optimistic about the EU, with Italy standing out for a significant gap between the two levels of institutional trust.

In detail, the survey involved 26,360 citizens in the 27 member states and 1,033 in Italy. What emerges is, first of all, the confirmation of the cliché of the ‘grumbling’ Italians: the most dissatisfied nation of the Union and below the European average for satisfaction in the work of their government. However, while 49 percent of Italian citizens say they trust the European Union, only 34 percent trust the national government. That is 15 percentage points less. The European Parliament is also regarded more highly (47 percent) than the Italian Parliament (37 percent). By contrast, 46 percent of Italians trust the European Commission, while only 28 percent express the same trust in the national judiciary. This gap reflects a long-established trend that is particularly pronounced today.

The perception of the EU as a more stable and effective institution than national ones seems to be strengthening, especially in a context of persistent economic uncertainty. Indeed, according to the survey, 70 percent of Italians assess the national economic situation negatively, with only 30 percent judging it as ‘very good’ or ‘quite good.’ At the same time, expectations about the development of the economic situation over the next twelve months are less than enthusiastic: 30.4 percent of Italians expect a worsening, while 29 percent believe in an improvement, and 40 percent expect it to remain unchanged. When it comes to confidence in the capacity of the national government to improve the situation, the figure is even more striking. In addition to the abstainers, only 26 percent of Italian respondents think that the executive will be able to bring the economic situation under control within a year. In contrast, 53 percent have no confidence in this outcome.

The Italian and European assessment of the national economic situation (Source: Eurobarometer)

Despite this climate of internal distrust, the perception of belonging to the Union remains firm: 74 percent of Italians feel like EU citizens, which is in line with the European average (75 percent). Support for the euro is also stable, with 71 percent of Italians in favor of the single currency. However, this is lower than the 83 percent recorded for the eurozone (the highest figure for the last two decades). In terms of values, Italians associate the EU mainly with the concepts of peace (42 percent), democracy (31 percent), and respect for fundamental rights (27 percent). These percentages are consistent with European averages and indicate a perception of the EU as a guarantor of stability and rights, in contrast to the difficulties perceived at the national level.

The picture that emerges is of a population that, although critical of the economic situation and the abilities of the national government, continues to look to the European Union as an anchor of stability and trust. This trend rings alarm bells at Palazzo Chigi and within the ruling coalition, where some have long portrayed Europe as either a scapegoat or a bureaucratic behemoth that must be fiercely resisted.