In a study comparing (French) Canadian, Italian and French parents, the Italians were found to be the most strict (Medical New Today, via Yahoo News):

Of all three countries, Italian mothers and fathers are perceived as using the most constraining practices,” says first author Michel Claes, a University of Montreal psychology professor. “Italian parents are seen as more demanding in rules and authorizations. They take more punitive actions when rules are broken and are less tolerant of peer socialization. They uphold family regulations and require their adolescents to ask for authorizations until a much later age.”

However, the Italian and the French parents grouped quite closely with Canadian parents being unusually lenient.

I have to say I am the soft touch in our family.  Don’t break one of my wife’s rules!