This study analyses the intellectual work of the two principal Italian think tanks—Arel and Nomisma—that were ideologically close to the left-wing Christian Democracy Party during the period of social conflicts in the 1970s until the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Even these two think tanks had different specialisations, organisational structures and methodological approaches, both strongly favoured Italy’s Europeanisation. However, the Christian Democracy Party did not follow Arel’s recommendations to maintain control over public debt through the introduction of a public spending limit in the Constitution or Nomisma’s recommendation to implement a long-term industrial policy strategy.