Mediterranean Farmers and Alternative Europes: Resistance, Europeanisation and CAP Reforms in Italy and France (mid-1970s to mid-1980s).

This article examines the active engagement and resistance of Italian and French farmers' associations, particularly Italy’s Coldiretti and France’s Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA), toward European Economic Community (EEC) integration from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. It highlights Coldiretti’s shift from close ties with Italy’s Christian Democratic party (Democrazia Cristiana, DC) toward more radical mobilization and European collaboration, especially amid conflicts like the “wine war” between Italy and France. The article also explores how shared opposition to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms fostered new forms of Europeanisation, including transnational solidarity among Mediterranean farmers, who perceived disadvantages compared to “continental” agricultural regions in northern Europe. By focusing on these social actors, the study challenges the notion of a “permissive consensus” in European integration history, revealing a complex process marked by political clashes, regional tensions, and evolving visions of Europe that predate and extend beyond formal treaties.