North-East Project
Encyclopedia
Venetism
Venetian nationalism is an ideology and a regionalist movement demanding more autonomy, or even independence from Italy, for Veneto, and promoting the re-discovery the Republic of Venice's heritage, traditions, culture and language...
, fiscal federalist
Fiscal federalism
As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government"...
and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
Italian political party based in Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region.
History
The party was founded in June 2004 by Giorgio PantoGiorgio Panto
Giorgio Panto was an Italian Venetist entrepreneur and politician.Panto was born at Meolo, in the Province of Venice...
, along with former members of the Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
–Lega Nord and former members of Liga Fronte Veneto
Liga Fronte Veneto
Liga Veneta Repubblica is a Venetist political party. The party maintains a mildly independentist position and campaingns the self-government of Veneto....
, notably Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato is a Venetist politician.Having joined Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1995. He however left that party in 1998, when he founded Liga Veneta Repubblica along with Fabrizio Comencini...
and Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato
Ettore Beggiato is a Venetist historian and politician.As member of several Venetist political parties , he was member of the Regional Council of Veneto from 1985 to 2000...
. Panto himself had been a long-time supporter of Lega Nord, but he distanced from it as he perceived it to be too moderate and Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
-centred.
The PNE won 5.4% of the vote in the 2005 regional election
Venetian regional election, 2005
The Venetian regional election of 2005 took place on 3-4 April 2005.Giancarlo Galan was re-elected for the third time in a row President of the Region, but the support for him was diminished by the presence of a third candidate, Giorgio Panto, who picked votes both from the centre-right and the...
, electing two members to the Regional Council of Veneto
Regional Council of Veneto
The Regional Council of Veneto is the regional parliament of Veneto.It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary Regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948.-Composition:...
, Mariangelo Foggiato and Diego Cancian, while Giorgio Panto, who was candidate for President and ran a campaign based on the slogan "Dignity. Autonomy for Veneto", took 6.0% (16.1% in the stronghold of Treviso
Province of Treviso
The Province of Treviso is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso.The province has an area of 2,477 km², and a total population of 886.886 . There are 95 municipalities in the province .-Municipalities:-External links:*...
). The key-issue for the party within the Regional Council has since been transforming Veneto into an autonomous region as Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
are.
In the 2006 general election
Italian general election, 2006 (Veneto)
The Italian general election of 2006 took place on 10–11 April 2006. The election was won in Veneto by the centre-right House of Freedoms coalition by a landslide in an election narrowly won by the centre-left The Union at the national level....
the party won 2.7% of the vote in Veneto and the 0.7% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia for the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, while the list for the Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
, headed by Panto, did not go further 3.5%, failing to elect him senator (he would have needed to surpass the 8.0% threshold for parties non affiliated to a national coalition). In the Treviso provincial election Panto and the PNE won respectively 10.3 and the 10.8% of the vote, respectively.
Since the sudden death in an helicopter accident of Giorgio Panto on 26 November 2006, the future of the party, which was heavily dependent on his leadership, personality and cash, is at risk. In 2008 it seemed likely that the party would have formed an alliance with The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
and Liga Veneta–Lega Nord. However, after that talks with the leaders of the centre-right failed, the PNE decided not to present a list for the 2008 general election
Italian general election, 2008 (Veneto)
The Italian general election of 2008 took place on 13–14 April 2008. The election was won in Veneto by the centre-right coalition between The People of Freedom and Lega Nord, as it happened at the national level...
, thus helping Liga Veneta to win 27.1% of the vote in the region.
In October 2008 the PNE signed a coalition pact with Liga Veneta Repubblica (which soon left the alliance) and Venetian Agreement
Venetian Agreement
Venetian Agreement is a centrist social-democratic Italian political party active in Veneto.It emerged in 2006 as a regional split from the Italian Democratic Socialists and it is led by Carlo Covi, regional deputy, and Monica Balbinot, minister of Culture of Padova...
for the future municipal, provincial and regional elections "in order to provide an adequate representation to the Venetian people, in line with what happens in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, from Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, where federalist, autonomist and independentist parties, who resopond uniquely to their territory, see their popular support increasing."
In November 2008 Diego Cancian, one of the two PNE regional deputies, left the party over disagreements with Foggiato and started his own party, the Forum of the Venetians
Forum of the Venetians
The Forum of the Venetians is a Venetist political party.It was founded in November 2008 by Diego Cancian, member of the Regional Council of Veneto for North-East Project...
. In the 2009 provincial elections the party had its best result in Belluno
Province of Belluno
TheThe Province of Belluno is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno.It has an area of 3,678 km², and a total population of 214,026 .-Geography:...
(1.6%), where it supported the candidate of Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta
Liga Veneta is a regionalist political party based in Veneto, combining Venetism and fiscal federalism. Liga Veneta is by far the largest party in Veneto and the party of Luca Zaia, President of Veneto since March 2010.It was the first party of its kind in Northern Italy, predating Umberto...
.
For the 2010 regional election
Venetian regional election, 2010
The Venetian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010, as part of Italy's big round of regional elections.Luca Zaia, rising star of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, was elected President by a landslide. With the support of 60.2% of Venetians, he was the most voted President of Veneto since...
the party finally chose to support Antonio De Poli
Antonio De Poli
Antonio De Poli is an Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for North-East with the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, part of the European People's Party...
(UDC) for President under the banner of North-East Union
North-East Union
The North-East Union is a Venetist political party active in Veneto.The party was formed in 1996 by splinters from Liga Veneta–Lega Nord led by Adriano Bertaso. In the 1996 general election the party won 2.0% of the vote in the region , having run only in the Verona–Padua–Vicenza–Rovigo constituency...
(UNE), along with UNE, LVR and IV. The list won 1.5% of vote, with peaks of 1.9% and 1.8% in the provinces of Treviso
Province of Treviso
The Province of Treviso is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso.The province has an area of 2,477 km², and a total population of 886.886 . There are 95 municipalities in the province .-Municipalities:-External links:*...
and Belluno
Province of Belluno
TheThe Province of Belluno is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno.It has an area of 3,678 km², and a total population of 214,026 .-Geography:...
, and Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato
Mariangelo Foggiato is a Venetist politician.Having joined Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1995. He however left that party in 1998, when he founded Liga Veneta Repubblica along with Fabrizio Comencini...
(PNE) was re-elected to the Council.
In the 2011 provincial election of Treviso the UNE won 2.4% of the vote and the PNE lost all its provincial councillors.
Ideology
North-East Project, which is active also in Friuli-Venezia GiuliaFriuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
, proposes the creation of a "macro-region" (macro-regione) through the merger of Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. This peculiarity among Venetist parties explains the party's name.
The party is also more economically liberal
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
than its principal competitors, Liga Veneta and The People of Freedom, and tends to put fiscal federalism
Fiscal federalism
As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government"...
first. Among other issues, it tends to be very similar to the other Venetist parties.
Leadership
- President: Giorgio PantoGiorgio PantoGiorgio Panto was an Italian Venetist entrepreneur and politician.Panto was born at Meolo, in the Province of Venice...
(2004–2006) - Secretary: Mariangelo FoggiatoMariangelo FoggiatoMariangelo Foggiato is a Venetist politician.Having joined Liga Veneta-Lega Nord, he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto in 1995. He however left that party in 1998, when he founded Liga Veneta Repubblica along with Fabrizio Comencini...
(2004–present)