Country profile: ItalyThe war in Iraq, pension reforms and the uncertain economic climate are the key issues dominating an Italian European election campaign that has clearly become a major test for the centre-right coalition government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.Italy: by the numbers
Although the Berlusconi cabinet this month established a new longevity record for a post-war Italian government, various opinion polls suggest that the prime minister's popularity rating has touched an all-time low.
A survey carried out by the Demos-Eurisko institute in late April claimed that 68 per cent of Italians believed Mr Berlusconi's government had failed to maintain its 2001 electoral promises, while the number of voters who believed he was doing a good job had sunk from 48 per cent in 2002 to 31 per cent.
Given that the major centre-left opposition electoral list bears the name of the current President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, the man most likely to oppose Mr Berlusconi in two years' time, then it is not difficult to understand just why most observers see next month's elections as a dry run for the 2006 general election.
Although Mr Prodi is not contesting the election, his presence will be widely felt not just through the "Lista Prodi" (comprising above all the Democratic Left) but also by way of election rally appearances he is due to make in several Italian cities.
Likewise, although he will obviously not be taking up the option of a seat at Strasbourg, Mr Berlusconi has been and will continue to be omnipresent in the election campaign both because of a nationwide poster campaign based exclusively on himself and also because he heads the Forza Italia list in all five Italian constituencies.
When Italians go to the polls on Saturday, June 12th (from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.), and Sunday, June 13th (from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.), they will be faced with no less than 13 electoral lists, ranging from the far right to the far left, from which they will elect 78 Euro MPs in five huge constituencies (North East, North West, Central Italy, the South, the Islands).
The number of different lists reflects not just the internal divisions and tensions within both the centre-right and centre-left but also the desire on the part of the major parties to take an electoral sounding under their own banners.
As always, the elections embody a Who's Who of Italian politics with Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini; former corruption investigator Antonio Di Pietro; former European Commissioner Emma Bonino; ailing Northern League leader Umberto Bossi; and Alessandro Mussolini, granddaughter of "Il Duce", all heading their own lists.
Many prominent sports and TV stars, including Olympic gold medallists Manuela Di Centa and Pietro Mennea, former AC Milan footballer Gianni Rivera and TV presenter Lili Gruber, will be standing.
Not surprisingly, national rather than European issues have featured in the electoral campaign.
The rising cost of living, concern about proposed pension reform and the well-documented difficulties of the Italian economy, as highlighted by the crash of dairy giant Parmalat and by the chronic problems afflicting two flagship companies such as car-maker Fiat and state carrier Alitalia, have all featured.
However, it seems certain that the major electoral issue will be an international one, namely the war in Iraq.
The death last weekend of Corporal Matteo Vanzan (22), killed during a three-day siege of the Italian military base in Nasiriya, has heightened pressure on the Berlusconi government to pull out the 3,000-strong Italian contingent.
Cpl Vanzan was the 20th Italian soldier to die in Iraq, but the first to be killed in combat, since the other 19 were killed in a bomb attack on the Italian base in Nasiriya last November.
Opening a European election rally in Manfredonia, southern Italy, last week, former prime minister and current Democratic Left party president Massimo D'Alema sounded a battle cry that is likely to ring on throughout the campaign: "The American right has to be removed, it is a danger to all, one that has taken us into a war with lies about weapons of mass destruction and which is now ending that war with the shame of torture."
Electorate: 46 million
Seats contested: 78
Seats won at last election (European parliament party grouping)
EPP-ED: 34 (Popular Party)
PES: 16 (Socialists)
ELDR: 8 (Liberal Democrats)
EUL/NGL: 6 (United Left)
Greens: 2 (Greens)
UEN: 9
(Union For European Nations)
Not Aligned: 10