The first theoretical chapter identifies two interpretations on the enlargement process of the EU: a liberal attitude of the Commission, trying to apply the economic and political criteria of conditionality in a neutral way; a conservative orientation leading to correct those criteria; European governments modify neutrality because of either patron/client links with candidate states, or security reasons. The second empirical part analyzes the decision making process of the Italian governments (and opposition forces) -together with those of the high diplomacy and some relevant domestic actors- on enlargement. The empirical research focused especially on the phase starting from 1997. Italy followed the rightist conservative model of foreign policy, with some leftist “multi-cultural” corrections; both of them supported, for different reasons, the Turkish candidature.
