From our correspondent
BERLIN Stereotypes die hard between Italy and Germany. Germans continue to see Italians as a people of optimists, enjoyment and relaxation. We see Germans as deep, rule-obsessed, inflexible and serious people.
Both evaluate the German situation positively and the Italian one negatively. The Italians consider the Federal Republic as the country of work, the Germans see Italy as the place of pleasure.
However, the image that the inhabitants of the boot have of Germany is much better than that of the Germans themselves. According to a survey by Friederich Ebert Stiftung, carried out by Ipsos on a double sample of 1650 people in each of the two countries, which will be published on Monday and we anticipate the results.
The picture that emerges is a friendly relationship, but not devoid of conflicts. This is especially true inattitude towards Europe, where the Germans are proudly aware of their leading role, while skepticism and self-criticism are growing in Italy.
Yet, despite this, unlike the Germans, we continue to focus more on European competence than on the national one for the solution of our problems in all sectors. As if to say that we are at the same time more skeptical of the Union than the Germans, but we also feed more expectations than them.
In any case, in both countries the overwhelming majority are in favor of the EU and the Eurozone. There knows that support for joint debt to cope with the economic consequences of the pandemic, the one decided with the Next generation Eu, now clearly majority not only in Italy but also in Germany.
Again, mutual interest shows one clear asymmetry: Germans know Italy better than Italians do Germany, a strong majority of Teutonic respondents have already visited our country. Consequence the difference of evaluation in the nature of the relationships: the Germans consider them rather friendly, even if they are inclined to a certain paternalism, while the Italians speak more realistically of partnership, in which we feel we are the weakest and least influential partner.