 | |
| Founded | July 2009 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Luca Cordero di Montezemolo |
| Dissolved | May 2014 |
| Type | Think tank |
| Location | |
President | Carlo Pontecorvo |
Key people | Lelio Alfonso,Carlo Calenda,Vincenzo Camporini,Stefano Dambruoso,Alessandro De Nicola,Diego Della Valle,Luigi Marino,Michel Martone,Angelo Mellone,Maria Paola Merloni,Vittorio Emanuele Parsi,Corrado Passera,Simone Perillo,Gianni Punzo,Andrea Romano,Nicola Rossi,Andrea Riccardi,Federico VecchioniIrene Tinagli |
| Website | www.italiafutura.it |
Future Italy (Italia Futura, IF) was an Italianliberal-centristthink tank, formed in 2009 byLuca Cordero di Montezemolo, chairman ofAlitalia (since 2014) and former chairman ofFerrari (1991–2014),FIAT (2004–2010) andConfindustria (2004–2008).[1]
Between 2013 and 2014, IF acted as ade facto internal faction ofCivic Choice, a centrist party launched byMario Monti.
IF was launched in July 2009 by Montezemolo along with a substantial group of entrepreneurs, managers and intellectuals, notably includingDiego Della Valle,Maria Paola Merloni,Gianni Punzo,Corrado Passera,Luigi Marino,Carlo Calenda,Andrea Romano,Vittorio Emanuele Parsi,Stefano Dambruoso,Irene Tinagli,Angelo Mellone, andMichel Martone.[1]
Romano, who was appointed IF director, was formerly close toMassimo D'Alema,[2] and many of IF leading members came from the centre-left.[3] A strong supporter of Montezemolo's project wasMassimo Cacciari, philosopher, three-times mayor ofVenice and disgruntledDemocrat, who had inspired a Veneto-based regional party calledToward North (VN).[1] In Montezemolo's words, however, IF aimed at forming a new "popular, reform and authentically liberal force" which would hegemonize thepolitical centre of Italian politics, in dialogue with "responsible people" of the established parties.[1]
In December 2011Federico Vecchioni, aVenetian who had been president ofConfagricoltura (2004–2011) and founder of IF inTuscany, was appointed national coordinator, in what was described by some observers as a step toward the transformation of IF into a full-fledged political party.[1] As of October 2012, IF had organized regional sections virtually in all theregions of Italy.[4] A leading member of VN,Andrea Causin, was appointed as one of the three regional coordinators of IF in Veneto, and other key members of VN were co-opted in IF's regional committee.[5] Other local associations were integrated too.
After long speculation, in mid-2012, Montezemolo seemed ready to enter politics and that the think tank would be transformed into a political party. On 30 September 2012, in an interview toCorriere della Sera, Montezemolo announced that IF would take part to the2013 general election and that it would supportMario Monti to serve a full term asPrime Minister of Italy.[1] According to some sources Montezemolo could have been the leader of a new centrist coalition composed of his movement and some of the parties which once formed theNew Pole for Italy, mainly theUnion of the Centre (UdC),Future and Freedom (FLI) andAlliance for Italy (ApI).[1]
IF however distanced from established parties as the UdC in favour of an entirely new political proposal.[6] On 17 November 2012 IF took part to the founding ofToward the Third Republic (VTR).[7] The week before Vecchioni had resigned from coordinator amid allegations of fraud,[1] and was replaced by Calenda.
In January 2013 IF was instrumental to the foundation of Mario Monti'sCivic Choice (SC).[1][8] At the2013 general election SC, which led a coalition comprising also the UdC and FLI, garnered 8.3% of the vote.[9] Several IF leading members, notably including Romano, Calenda, Merloni, Tinagli, Dambruoso, Causin were elected to theItalian Parliament.[10][11] Calenda, who left the post of coordinator, was appointed deputy minister of Economic Development inLetta Cabinet.[12]
After the election,Nicola Rossi, a leadingeconomic liberal, former senator of theDemocrats of the Left and former president ofBruno Leoni Institute, was elected IF president, whileSimone Perillo was appointed director.[13] According to Montezemolo and Rossi, far from becoming an organised faction within SC, IF would return to its original nature of think tank, while the MPs hailing from IF would be a "liberal and reform-minded" force within Parliament.[1] However, as soon as in October 2013, Rossi abruptly left the presidency of IF.[14] According to Formiche.net, an online journal, this was the consequence of Montezemolo's contempt for Rossi's "ultra-liberalism",[15][16] while SC seemed oriented at joining theEuropean People's Party[17] and not theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party as IF would like.[1][18][19]
In March 2014Carlo Pontecorvo, a physician-turned-entrepreneur, was sworn in as new IF president.[20][21] Subsequently, the think tank stopped playing a role within SC: while some of its former leading members continued to be active within the party (e.g. Dambruoso), others took different paths by joining theDemocratic Party (Calenda, Romano, Tinagli),Popular Area (Causin, Marino) andUnique Italy (Alfonso), led by former IF member Passera. Moreover, Pontecorvo criticised IF's former allegiance with SC and its consequent alliance with the UdC, while proposing to organise the think tank as a full-fledged party.[22]
