Till austerity do us part? A survey experiment on support for the euro in Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened Italy’s fiscal outlook by increasing public debt. If interest rates were to rise, it would become more likely that Italy experiences a financial crisis and requires European bailout. How does making EU funds conditional on austerity structural reforms affect Italians’ support for the euro? Based novel survey experiment, this article shows majority of voters chooses remain in euro if bailout not involve conditionality, but pro-euro turns into relative ‘Italexit’ is contingent policies. Blaming different actors has little effect support. These results suggest conditionality may turn Italian against euro.