The words of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, on The Manifesto of Ventotene In the Chamber of Deputies, the document that laid the foundations of theModern Europeanism. The complete title of the document is “For a free and united Europe – a manifesto project“was written in 1941 from Two Italian anti -fascistsAltiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, while they were confined to the island of Ventotene, in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Manifest was Posted in 1944 with the preface by Eugenio Colorni and became a reference for the idea of a united continent. In a Europe devastated by nationalisms and totalitarian dictatorships, Spinelli and Rossi, two opponents of fascism, they sensed that the model of Sovereign national states inevitably led to conflicts and wars. This is why they imagined aFederal Europein which the various countries collaborate to guarantee peace and social progress. Furthermore, they denounced the dangers of a national state with absolute power and explained that the solution was not simply reduced fascism, but overcome the very concept of absolute sovereignty of the states, replacing it with a supranational union founded on the cooperation and on freedom.
The Ventotene manifesto theorizes aUnited and democratic Europewith his own parliament and government, capable of guaranteeing peace and freedom; The idea would be to create a European Federation with real powersfrom the economy to foreign policy, to avoid conflicts between nations and build a more stable and fair future. The Manifest deals with several key themes that can be summarized in the following fundamental points:
- Criticism of national states: In fact, the authors consider them responsible for wars and misery, because they tend to compete with each other rather than collaborating.
- Proposal of a federal Europe: Spinelli and Rossi imagine a political union that exceeds national borders and guarantees peace, freedom and rights for everyone.
- Social emancipation: The manifesto is not only a political project, but also social because it promotes a Europe that fights the inequalities and better the living conditions of all citizens.
- Anti-Totalitarianism: The text was born as a direct response to fascist and Nazis regimes, with the aim of building a future based on democracy, justice and equality.
Today we live aEuropean Union which, despite its limits, has created many of the ideals of the manifesto: peace between Member States, a common currency, shared policies. Certainly Not all Spinelli and Rossi proposals have been concretized Or they are concretizable. The two anti -fascists wanted to overcome national states, but today The EU is precisely a union of states that still maintain large sovereigntyespecially in foreign policy and defense. As well as the idea of a unified European army, much discussed in the last period, is still far away, national economies – although integrated into the single market – retain significant differences.
