Spinelli Group
Encyclopedia
The Spinelli Group is a pro-European initiative that was founded with a view to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union
(EU), by creating a network of citizens, think tanks, NGOs, academics, writers and politicians who support the idea of a federal and united Europe. Among other goals, the Group aims to "find a federal majority [among members of the European Parliament] on important subjects." Founded on 15 September 2010 in the European Parliament
(EP) in Brussels, the group is named after Altiero Spinelli
(1907 – 1986), founder of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and a founding father of the European integration
.
The group is founded by Guy Verhofstadt
, head of the liberal Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
(ALDE) group in the Parliament and honorary president of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) in Belgium, The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group co-chair Daniel Cohn-Bendit
, Sylvie Goulard
(ALDE) and current EP Vice President
Isabelle Durant
(Greens/EFA), with the support of the Union of European Federalists.
The Spinelli Group is not the first initiative launched in the European Parliament, gathering together followers of European federalism ideas. On 9 July 1980, the Crocodile Club
a group of MEPs was founded by Altiero Spinelli himself.
For more than 60 years, Union of European Federalists (UEF) and its youth organisation Young European Federalists (JEF) with a “belief that only a European Federation, based on the idea of unity in diversity, could overcome the division of the European continent” have been actively working to promote the idea of European federalism. MEP Andrew Duff and president of UEF has welcomed the launching of the Spinelli Group saying, that "existing federalist forces and organisations, such as the UEF and the Intergroup, welcome this new initiative”.
written by Altiero Spinelli, Group activists call members of the European Parliament and Europe’s citizens to sign it and add their names to the list of those fighting against nationalism and intergovernmentalism. By supporting the aims and principles laid out in the manifesto, Spinelli group followers try to speed up the process of European integration and promote federal Europe.
, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
, former competition commissioner Mario Monti
and MEP Andrew Duff
, President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and other well known public bodies. It is also enthusiastically supported by such European Union promoters as former European Parliament President Pat Cox
and current Parliament Vice-President Isabelle Durant (Greens/EFA; Belgium).
Spinelli Group members, as of October 2010, were:
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU), by creating a network of citizens, think tanks, NGOs, academics, writers and politicians who support the idea of a federal and united Europe. Among other goals, the Group aims to "find a federal majority [among members of the European Parliament] on important subjects." Founded on 15 September 2010 in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
(EP) in Brussels, the group is named after Altiero Spinelli
Altiero Spinelli
Altiero Spinelli was an Italian political theorist and a European federalist. Spinelli is referred to as one of the "Founding Fathers of the European Union" due to his co-authorship of the Ventotene Manifesto, his founding role in the European federalist movement, his strong influence on the first...
(1907 – 1986), founder of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and a founding father of the European integration
Founding fathers of the European Union
The Founding Fathers of the European Union are a number of men who have been recognised as making a major contribution to the development of European unity and what is now the European Union. There is no official list of founding fathers or a single event defining them so some ideas vary.-Europe's...
.
The group is founded by Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
, head of the liberal Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
(ALDE) group in the Parliament and honorary president of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) in Belgium, The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group co-chair Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit is a Franco-German politician, active in both countries. He was a student leader during the unrest of May 1968 in France and he was also known during that time as Dany le Rouge...
, Sylvie Goulard
Sylvie Goulard
Sylvie Goulard is a French politician. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the West region of France in the 2009 European elections. As an MEP she is a member of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and ALDE group coordinator, as well as a substitute member of...
(ALDE) and current EP Vice President
Vice President of the European Parliament
There are fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.-Role:...
Isabelle Durant
Isabelle Durant
Isabelle A.J. Durant is a Belgian politician, member of the Ecolo party. On 15 September, 2010 Durant supported the new initiative Spinelli Group in the European Parliament, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union...
(Greens/EFA), with the support of the Union of European Federalists.
Federalists’ movements
Crocodile Club
The Crocodile Club was an informal group of members of the European Parliament that favoured greater European integration, to the extent of a European federation, and greater powers to the European Parliament....
a group of MEPs was founded by Altiero Spinelli himself.
For more than 60 years, Union of European Federalists (UEF) and its youth organisation Young European Federalists (JEF) with a “belief that only a European Federation, based on the idea of unity in diversity, could overcome the division of the European continent” have been actively working to promote the idea of European federalism. MEP Andrew Duff and president of UEF has welcomed the launching of the Spinelli Group saying, that "existing federalist forces and organisations, such as the UEF and the Intergroup, welcome this new initiative”.
Manifesto
With a manifesto online, recalling the Ventotene ManifestoVentotene Manifesto
The Ventotene Manifesto is a political statement written by Altiero Spinelli and by Ernesto Rossi while they were prisoners on the Italian island of Ventotene during World War II. Completed in June 1941, the Manifesto was circulated within the Italian Resistance, and it soon became the programme...
written by Altiero Spinelli, Group activists call members of the European Parliament and Europe’s citizens to sign it and add their names to the list of those fighting against nationalism and intergovernmentalism. By supporting the aims and principles laid out in the manifesto, Spinelli group followers try to speed up the process of European integration and promote federal Europe.
Members
Currently the group is composed of 33 members – politicians and thinkers dedicated to building a federal Europe. This pro-European initiative is supported by prominent political leaders such as former Commission President Jacques DelorsJacques Delors
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:...
, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
, former competition commissioner Mario Monti
Mario Monti
Mario Monti is an Italian economist and academic who is Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, since November 2011. Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999...
and MEP Andrew Duff
Andrew Duff
Andrew Duff OBE is a Liberal Democrat politician, president of the Union of European Federalists, and a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England region of the UK....
, President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and other well known public bodies. It is also enthusiastically supported by such European Union promoters as former European Parliament President Pat Cox
Pat Cox
Pat Cox is an Irish politician and former television current affairs presenter. He was President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and served as a member of the European Parliament from 1989–2004....
and current Parliament Vice-President Isabelle Durant (Greens/EFA; Belgium).
Spinelli Group members, as of October 2010, were:
- Jacques DelorsJacques DelorsJacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:...
- Mario MontiMario MontiMario Monti is an Italian economist and academic who is Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, since November 2011. Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999...
- Joschka FischerJoschka FischerJoseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
- Pat CoxPat CoxPat Cox is an Irish politician and former television current affairs presenter. He was President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and served as a member of the European Parliament from 1989–2004....
- Roza ThunRóża ThunRóża Maria Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein , usually shortened to Róża Thun, is a European Parliament Member from Poland. A member of the Civic Platform, she started her term in 2009...
- Kalypso Nicolaidis
- Danuta HübnerDanuta HübnerDanuta Hübner is a Polish economist, academic, and policy maker. She served as European Commissioner for Regional Policy from 22 November 2004 until 4 July 2009, when she resigned to become a Member of European Parliament for the Civic Platform....
- Gesine SchwanGesine SchwanGesine Schwan is a German political science professor and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The party has nominated her twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections. On 23 May 2004, she was defeated by the Christian Democrat and former president Horst Köhler...
- Tommaso Padoa-SchioppaTommaso Padoa-SchioppaTommaso Padoa-Schioppa , Knight Grand Cross was a well-known pro-European Italian banker and economist who was Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance from May 2006 until May 2008...
- Elie Barnavi
- Jean-Marc FerryJean-Marc FerryJean-Marc Ferry is a French philosopher who is best known for his book Les puissances de l'expérience , described by Paul Ricoeur as "one of the most important works recently published in the field of social and political philosophy"...
- Ulrich BeckUlrich BeckUlrich Beck is a German sociologist who holds a professorship at Munich University and at the London School of Economics.-Life:...
- Amartya SenAmartya SenAmartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
- Andrew DuffAndrew DuffAndrew Duff OBE is a Liberal Democrat politician, president of the Union of European Federalists, and a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England region of the UK....
- Elmar BrokElmar BrokElmar Brok is a German Member of the European Parliament and the former Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was elected on the CDU ticket and sits with the European People's Party group...
- Tibor Dessewfy
- Sandro Gozi
- Pawel Swieboda
- Kurt Vandenberghe
- Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul
- Anna Triandafyllidou
- Diogo Pinto
- Heather Grabbe
- Imola Streho
- Alina-Roxana Girbea
- Guy VerhofstadtGuy VerhofstadtGuy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
- Daniel Cohn Bendit
- Sylvie GoulardSylvie GoulardSylvie Goulard is a French politician. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the West region of France in the 2009 European elections. As an MEP she is a member of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and ALDE group coordinator, as well as a substitute member of...
- Isabelle DurantIsabelle DurantIsabelle A.J. Durant is a Belgian politician, member of the Ecolo party. On 15 September, 2010 Durant supported the new initiative Spinelli Group in the European Parliament, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union...
- Koert Debeuf
- Edouard Gaudot
- Guillaume McLaughlin
- Mychelle Rieu
See also
- Union of European Federalists
- Crocodile ClubCrocodile ClubThe Crocodile Club was an informal group of members of the European Parliament that favoured greater European integration, to the extent of a European federation, and greater powers to the European Parliament....
- Young European Federalists
- Federal Europe
- European MovementEuropean MovementThe European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
- Centre for Studies on FederalismCentre for Studies on FederalismThe Centre for Studies on Federalism was established in November 2000 with the primary purpose of studying and researching the theory and practice of Federalism both as a political doctrine and in its implementation in the institutional systems of the Modern state...
- World Federalist MovementWorld Federalist MovementThe World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...