Abstract

The aim of the article is to investigate how two Eurosceptic parties, the Northern League and Rifondazione Comunista, shape their political discourse on the EU and vote on European issues within the Italian Parliament. For this purpose, we use two data sets on roll-calls and party manifestos. We show that there is a low level of congruence between the rhetoric and the institutional behaviour of these two parties. Especially when in government, they tend to be rather loyal to the EU commitments. This, in spite of the fact that the European issue has become more politicised in the Italian Parliament over time.