Is the genie out of the bottle — European Union populists

Renzi was to hand in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella on December 5.

“The imminence of the European Central Bank meeting is another factor that has led to the recovery of the euro today”, Jalinoos said.

The president could ask Renzi to stay on until at least the budget legislation is approved.

Le Pen is already relishing the challenge and happily watched Sunday’s implosion of Italy’s political establishment.

Renzi announced his resignation after his plan to reform the constitution was rejected by voters.

“I believe that this vote, this strong result …is a vote against the government basically”, says Italian journalist Anna Mazzone.

Number 10 stressed that the outcome of the referendum on proposed constitutional changes was “a decision for the Italian people”.

Speaking en-route to Bahrain for an official visit, Mrs May said: “This is a matter for the Italian people”.

Renzi said in his resignation speech: “Italy has chosen”.

‘Bond market turbulence could have serious implications for the financial system. Italy is a major trading partner for Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

Compounding the ill reaction by the financial markets will be the effect on Italy’s government bond market, the fifth largest globally. Whether that would be enough to govern would depend on how the new electoral law is written. The labor reform proposed by Renzi was known as the Jobs Act was “not effective” in sorting the problem of unemployment as “34 percent of young Italians still can not find a job”, she added.

Jane Foley, a senior FX strategist at Rabobank, said: “For Italy’s banks the referendum result will mark a huge disappointment. I don’t think that the private banking sector would be at risk”, Mr. Emanuele added. The Italians have decided; we have to respect that. They have made their choice.

Another voter, Alex, said that Renzi’s mistake was making the referendum too political. “It doesn’t seem to require any emergency steps”. The reform also planned to reduce the number of senators from 315 to 100. But its rejection “does not have an immediate impact on Italy’s creditworthiness”. Renzi and his supporters marketed it as streamlining government to make it faster and more responsive to new situations as they present themselves.

Prime minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after his proposals were rejected, leading to fears of a snap general election. “But it’s certainly not a positive contribution against the backdrop of the crisis in Europe”, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Athens.

Addressing the nation at the Palazzo Chigi, Renzi declared that his “experience of government finishes here”.

With much wrangling ahead, the risk facing Italy is “a prolonged muddle-through period, the emergence of an ineffective, patched-up coalition government in the postelection phase and continuously poor economic performance”, said Wolfango Piccoli, a political analyst at the Teneo Intelligence consultancy.

Italians rejected constitutional reforms championed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who had boldly staked his political future on winning the referendum. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin insisted that the Italian referendum “is a question of internal politics”.

Many had read the referendum as an outlet for growing anti-establishment, populist sentiment in Europe.

The far-right party sometimes allies itself with the centre-right. “The extreme right is not irresistible”. 5-Star, which campaigned hard for a “No” vote, wants to hold a referendum instead on membership of the euro.

On the bright side, maybe we won’t have to deal with Brexit after all. However, his economic policies have made little impact, and the 5-Star Movement has claimed the anti-establishment banner, tapping into a populist mood that saw Britons vote to leave the European Union and Americans elect Trump. “It was a domestic political argument”.

A youth unemployment rate of close to 40 percent may be the reason why the “no” vote was highest among the young – 70 percent of Italians under 35 years of age voted against Renzi’s reforms. Renzi is expected to hand in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella later Monday. Italy’s FTSE MIB stock index fell 2.0 percent at the opening before clawing back some ground, underperforming other European markets.

The price of oil reached a 16-month high, rising 1% to 55 USA dollars a barrel, following last week’s landmark deal to cut supply.