As often, the latest dispute between Italy and European institutions is about rules, deficits, debts and possible sanctions. But those are just products of the real problem that comes back to haunt all Italian governments involved in this perennial drama: the country’s persistent lack of growth since the launch of the euro.

The latest player of this old game, the coalition government of the Five Star Movement and Lega, the fiercely Eurosceptic parties, was reminded of this when the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published its traditional autumn economic forecast this week. The Italian economy will grow at the slowest pace in Europe next year, with gross domestic product expected to increase by 1.2%, against 2% for the rest of the EU, according to the commission’s economists.