Lavish EU 60th Celebration Will Skirt Issues in Stumbling Italy, the Host Country

The economy grew just 0.9 percent last year, below the euro area's 1.7 percent, and unemployment is at 11.9 percent. A recent EU poll put Italy as the monetary union's second-most euro-skeptic state after Cyprus with only 41 percent saying the single currency is "a good thing." The average in the 19-member euro area is 56 percent.

That widespread disenchantment may be felt at elections due in about one year. A poll published on Tuesday by Corriere della Sera put support for the Five Star Movement, which calls for a referendum to ditch the euro, at a record 32.3 percent, well ahead of the ruling Democratic Party. Summit host Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has only been in power since December, when Matteo Renzi resigned after losing a constitutional reform referendum.