A series of rows on migration, austerity and energy supplies are sending relations between Rome and Berlin into deep freeze.

Behind the forced smiles at international meetings, the relationship between Italy and Germany has rarely been as bad. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who recently declared that his country was not subordinate to Germany, wants to steal the thunder of anti-European parties at home. And he no doubt hopes that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political problems will allow austerity to be ditched in favour of an emphasis on growth.

Italy, which is dependent on Russian energy supplies, has also criticised Germany’s Nord Stream pipeline project with Russia, accusing Berlin of securing its own energy supplies while pressuring other countries to back economic sanctions against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.

And there are at least a year’s worth of skirmishes over the epochal migration crisis. Italy could rightly complain that for a long time it has been left alone to deal with the thousands of migrants arriving at its southern boarders or being plucked from rickety boats in the Mediterranean.

More recently, however, Berlin has led criticism of Italy’s failure – suspected to be deliberate – to fingerprint many new arrivals who have then been free to claim asylum elsewhere in Europe, often Germany.

It was reported at the weekend that Germany is in favour of a mini-Schengen, comprising itself, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and the Netherlands, in order to teach Italy and Greece a lesson.

The ante would be upped, one Italian newspaper has predicted, were Germany to send back some post-Cologne sex-crime refugees to Italy (as their first port of call in Europe), given that it’s not able to repatriate them to Syria or Iraq.

That scenario, dreamt up by the right-wing, anti-Renzi Il Giornale, seems designed to infuriate its eurosceptic readers. This is the Berlusconi family newspaper that, as part of its crude, anti-German stance, has sunk to publishing touched-up pictures of Mrs Merkel in a Kaiser helmet.

One commentator, Stefano Folli, warned in La Repubblica on Saturday, however, that by picking a fight with Mrs Merkel, Mr Renzi risked boosting the credibility of the Germany-baiting, populist parties he was trying to sideline.

But, despite the dangers, the Renzi government has decided that Italy, long seen as the easygoing if slightly wayward sibling among the major EU states, should stand up and be counted.

There’s a belief that low-growth Italy has made progress in its reforms programme and that German-led austerity has to be replaced, or at least watered down, with a greater emphasis on jobs.

One senior Italian government figure said at the weekend that “Italy has been seen in the past as a country that is not going to cause any trouble. That is no longer something that we can accept”.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

Mr Renzi said as much on Friday, when he turned his fire on the European Commission after its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, called on him to tone down his criticism of EU policies on migration, banking and the budget. “We won’t be intimidated by soundbites,” Mr Renzi said in interview on Canale 5.

In private, Italian ministers say some powerful EC member states interpret the EU’s rules to their own benefit, and that this flexibility should also be open to Italy – particularly regarding fiscal leeway in its 2016 budget.

Ministers are also keen to talk up Italy’s role as a mediator between the eurosceptic Brits and the europhile Germans and French by calling for Europe to be a broad church. Italy would benefit from the reduced dominance of the two countries that created the EU.