Does Italy remain true to itself because it affords a government crisis every year?
In February 2021, it was hoped that Mario Draghi would interrupt this unfortunate tradition for a while.
But until the spring of 2023, when his mandate expires in a more or less natural way, he may no longer be allowed to exercise.
With his government of experts, he would only have had 17 months to get the country back on course – not enough in view of the challenges and the epochal crises.
The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation and the energy transition away from Russian gas have hampered, if not prevented, structural reform work for the country's modernization and competitiveness.
The question of whether Draghi will remain in office after his parliamentary appearance next Wednesday is open.
But one way or another, a change would probably be in the spring of 2023 at the latest.
Sooner or later a government has to be chosen at the ballot box.
The question is therefore whether the political parties will continue the reform work: Draghi's pro-European and transatlantic emphasis in foreign policy and the implementation of a successful vaccination campaign were particularly important.
On the front of structural economic reforms, on the other hand, the record is mixed;
Important laws have yet to be approved by Parliament.
Draghi has tried to allow more competition, speed up the judiciary system, introduce tax incentives for greater efficiency and fairness, while keeping government spending somewhat in check.
If his successors deviate from this course, his work would remain but a footnote in the history books.
External pressure on the successors is therefore essential: if the ECB does not take care of this because it continues to buy up government bonds, the EU Commission should only transfer its billions via the European recovery plan if the agreed structural reforms are actually implemented.
Consistency without political compromises is more than necessary given the redistribution within a currency area.