Europe Constructed, Europe Contested: Italian Media Responses to the Treaties of Rome.

This article examines Italian media responses to the 1957 Treaties of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom, highlighting how the event became a politicized media moment reflecting diverse and often conflicting views on European integration. While the Christian Democratic (Democrazia Cristiana, DC) government controlled broadcast media like RAI to promote a pro-integrationist narrative portraying the Treaties as a historic and unifying milestone, the printed press—less subject to government control—featured a plurality of opinions, including critical and sceptical voices from Communists, Socialists, neo-fascists, federalists, and other political factions. The article challenges prevailing narratives that frame Italian Euroscepticism as a post-Maastricht phenomenon by demonstrating that contestation and politicisation of European integration were already significant in the 1950s, with media outlets actively shaping and reflecting these debates. It also shows how early media discourse began to delineate categories such as "anti-European" and "sceptic," foreshadowing later Eurosceptic terminology, and underscores the role of media in both constructing a pro-European orthodoxy and marginalizing dissenting perspectives during this formative period.