MILAN — With Europe once again rattling global markets, many of the largest European countries are now rebelling against the German gospel of belt-tightening and demanding more radical steps to reverse their slumping fortunes.

One after another, European leaders arrived in Milan on Thursday for a summit meeting with their Asian counterparts, smiling for photographs despite gloomy financial news this week of stock markets tumbling and borrowing costs shooting up, especially in Greece, evoking memories of the euro crisis two years ago.

In past years, however, the eurozone nations buckled under to German demands to slash budget deficits and roll back public services, and then watched in dismay as unemployment rates shot into the double digits and growth collapsed. Now, France, Italy and the European Central Bank have coalesced into a bloc against Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and they are insisting that Berlin change course.

“We need to show that Europe is capable of investing in growth, and not only in rigor and austerity,” said the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, speaking to reporters outside the conference center after presiding over the opening of the meeting. He described the international financial situation as “very delicate” and said Europe had still not earned the confidence of international markets.