Italy is slowly, inexorably slipping behind its neighbours. Its economy has been underperforming the EU since the mid-1990s. It has become less competitive than Tunisia. And, in two to four years, Italians are expected to be overtaken by the Spanish in terms of GDP per head. If you do not attach much importance to economic growth, you can consult almost any other measure of progress, from the use of alternative energy to the rate of female employment. Italy will almost certainly be found near the bottom of a table of comparable nations. According to Transparency International, only Greece registers a higher level of perceived corruption among the states of the “old” 15-member EU.