Similarities between French and Italian political culture of student representation include a conflictual culture in a weak national system of intermediation of interests, and a mimetic relationship with national conflictual party politics. New international topics, such as the Bologna Process or the growing commodification of education, have called students' unions to develop their multilevel structure and address the international level. In this context, does the growing contact with international decision makers and other unions lead to significant changes in political culture in French and Italian unions? This article addresses this question by investigating the responses of French and Italian NSUs to the internationalization of higher education policymaking.