The Lega Nord Between Regionalism and National Ambitions. And… Europe?

In many European countries radical right parties are considered as one of the central driving forces of Euroscepticism. In this respect, the Lega Nord plays an important role in Italy. However, the party’s framing of Europe and the EU has changed over time, according to the party’s strategic and electoral needs. Moreover, the Lega Nord - which used to promote localist and regionalist politics - underwent an important change in 2013, with the election of Matteo Salvini as Federal Secretary. The new leader’s shift of focus from “the North” of the country to the whole of Italy had important consequences for the party, including its visions of Europe. The result is a new combination of localism, regionalism and national ambitions, which affects the orientation of the Lega toward the European Union. In this context, this paper aims to investigate the development of Euroscepticism of the Lega Nord and to connect it with the evolution of the politics of the party. In doing so, this paper contextualizes the Lega Nord and its recent development within the extensive debate on Euroscepticism and Eurosceptic parties in the political science literature.