The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative as a challenge to the process of integration of the European community – the case of Italy

The aim of the article is to analyze the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the integrity of the EU community. The research problem boils down to the following questions: Has this initiative contributed to increasing the influence of the PRC in Europe? How did the EU react to Chinese ideas? What was Italy’s reaction to Chinese proposals and declarations? The article uses the descriptive method and a case study. The first part of the article will focus on the analysis of the intensification of Chinese activity in Europe by demonstrating cases of buy-outs of Old Continet’s key companies by PRC enterprises. The Belt and Road initiative and Chinese projects will be then briefly described. Aiming to demonstrate the impact of the initiative “Belt and Road” on the EU was selected for detailed analysis of Italy due to the geographical location of the country, long-term cooperation within the framework of the European Union and the fact that Italy was the first member of the G7, who “joined” Initiative Belt and Road. In the last part, the author will try to determine whether China has influence on the process of disintegration of the EU.