Italy, playing wife to Germany, is miffed with the new mistress . . .

How Italy fell out of love with the EU - FT.com

. . . but like so many mistresses doesn't want a divorce, she feels "unappreciated," and wants more attention, er, money.

"Our scepticism isn’t against Europe, it’s about how things have gone,” Mr Leoni says. “We should not pursue an exit but we just don’t feel safeguarded by Europe and we need to be appreciated a bit more,” he says."

Italy is playing Germany for a fool here, and is very likely to succeed. 

"Mr Leoni’s words hardly amount to bombastic anti-EU rhetoric, but they reflect a major shift in Italian public opinion in recent years that has challenged the government of Matteo Renzi, its centre-left prime minister, and forced him to adopt a much more confrontational tone in his dealings with Brussels than many of his predecessors.

To the irritation of Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, and Angela Merkel, German chancellor , the 41-year old former mayor of Florence has lambasted the EU and its member states for pursuing a failed austerity-led economic model that risks leading the continent towards political paralysis or a populist takeover."

Yeah, whipsawed, right before our very eyes, and poor Juncker, and Merkel don't have a clue. This is all about Italy creating a weaker Euro, while remaining in the EU so as to continue feeding at the low interest rate trough, and receiving shots of German money for "immigrants," well, this time. Who knows what the issue will be next time, but it will have the same results, weaker Euro, feed at the trough, more money from Germany.

Italy plays this game so well, it should offer seminars. Greece is barely competent at this game, it does get money, but only after it falls into actual ruin, and Spain makes a good effort but can never quite pull it off. Portugal is the shrinking violet that never sees the sun. These countries are likely to slip out of the First World economically if they do not do something quickly to arrest their economic declines.

"Even Mr Pizzarotti, however, is not sure he supports his party’s plan for a referendum on eurozone membership. “I don’t know if it’s better or worse to be in or out, but no one has ever asked ‘and then what? What do we do once we are all alone?’”

Yeah, better to stay suckling at the teat, than risk success by going it alone. This is the mindset of all Europe, and has been since America sucked all of the risk takers out of Europe back during the european 19th century mass immigrations to America. This left Europe full of fearful, xenophobic nationalists, perfect fodder for xenophobic nationalistic movements like Fascism, Nazism, and Socialism. So, today we have a Europe dependent upon the US for its protection, but fearful, and xenophobic. The EU appears as parent but has no strength. All chafe under American protection, as the dependent adult child chafes living in his parents basement. The motto is always, "We can do it better."

They cannot. 

"The strongest country, Germany, has to be very strict, but also has to give us the means to grow stronger together, not just economically and financially, but also socially,” he says. 'We need a lot more unity.'" 

​Er, yeah, pay up Germany!