More Europe Più Europa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Emma Bonino |
| Secretary | Riccardo Magi |
| President | Matteo Hallissey |
| Founded | 23 November 2017; 8 years ago (2017-11-23) |
| Headquarters | Via Santa Caterina da Siena 46,Rome |
| Membership(2025) | 6,159[1] |
| Ideology | Liberalism (Italian) Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre[2] |
| National affiliation | Centre-left coalition(2018–present) withAction(2021–2022) United States of Europe(2024) |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[3] |
| Colours | Gold |
| Chamber of Deputies | 2 / 400 (0.5%) |
| Senate | 0 / 205 (0%) |
| European Parliament | 0 / 76 (0%) |
| Regional Councils | 2 / 896 |
| Website | |
| piueuropa.eu | |
More Europe (Italian:Più Europa or+Europa;+E or+Eu) is aliberal[2][4][5] andpro-European[6][7][5]political party in Italy, part of thecentre-left coalition and member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
More Europe was launched in November 2017, seeking to participate in the2018 general election within thecentre-left coalition centred on theDemocratic Party (PD).[8] The founding members were two liberal and distinctively pro-Europeanist parties: theItalian Radicals (RI), whose leading members includedEmma Bonino (a former minister of International Commerce and Foreign Affairs),Riccardo Magi andMarco Cappato, andForza Europa (FE), led byBenedetto Della Vedova, a former Radical elected in2013 withFuture and Freedom (FLI) and later transitated throughCivic Choice (SC). The RI and FE were joined by individual members of theCivics and Innovators (CI) sub-group in theChamber of Deputies, formed by former SC members (two CI deputies,Andrea Mazziotti andStefano Dambruoso, were already involved with FE).
Angelo Bonelli, coordinator of theFederation of the Greens, had earlier proposed to the Radicals a joint list together withProgressive Camp (CP), a would-be party launched byGiuliano Pisapia, named "Ecology, Europe, Rights".[9] However, Pisapia announced that he would not participate in the election and declared CP's experience over, while the Radicals organised +E and the Greens would form an alternative list namedTogether.
In early January 2018, Bonino and Della Vedova announced that +E would run as a stand-alone list, due to technical reasons associated with the new electoral laws.[10] While the PD leadership was trying to find a solution to those problems,[11] on 4 January,Bruno Tabacci, leader of thecentrist, mostlyChristian-democratic and also pro-EuropeanistDemocratic Centre (CD), announced that his party would join the coalition +E, in alliance with the PD, to overcome those issues.[12][13][14][15] Later in January, +E was enlarged also to theProgressive Area (AP), a small left-wing party emerged from the dissolution of the aforementioned CP.[16][17]
The list won 2.6% of the vote in the election, falling short of the 3% threshold, but had three elects in single-seat constituencies (Bonino to the Senate, Magi and Tabacci to the Chamber) and one among Italians abroad (Alessandro Fusacchia, a Radical, in the European constituency). After the election, +E was part of the opposition toGiuseppe Conte'sfirst government, composed of a coalition of theFive Star Movement (M5S) and theLeague.
In theregional elections held on the same day of the general election, +E won one seat in Lombardy and one in Lazio.
In July 2018, +E started to organise itself as a full-fledged party. It was decided that a committee, presided byGianfranco Spadaccia (a long-time Radical), would lead +E until thefounding congress, scheduled for January 2019. The newly formed committee appointed Della Vedova as coordinator.[18] In January 2019, at the congress, Della Vedova was elected secretary of +E with 55.7% of the vote, defeatingMarco Cappato (30.2%) and Alessandro Fusacchia (14.1%).[19][20]
In February 2019, the party was admitted into theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.[21]
In the run-up to the2019 European Parliament election +E was joined by:Italia in Comune (IiC), a green and progressive party led byFederico Pizzarotti;[22][23][24] theItalian Socialist Party (PSI), a minor social-democratic party, member of theParty of European Socialists (PES);[25][26] theItalian Republican Party (PRI);[27] the Italian section of theEuropean Democratic Party (EDP/PDE), led byFrancesco Rutelli; and, in theNorth-East,Team Köllensperger (TK), a liberal party fromSouth Tyrol, observer member of the ALDE Party.[28] The slates included, along with Bonino and Della Vedova:David Borrelli andDaniela Aiuto, two MEPs both originally elected with the M5S;Federica Sabbati, a former secretary-general of the ALDE Party; and art criticPhilippe Daverio.[29][30]
In the election, the party obtained 3.1% of the vote, falling short of the 4% threshold – thus, no MEPs.
In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting the government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence by the League.[31] During the followinggovernment crisis, the M5S and the PD agreed to form a new cabinet together, under outgoing Prime Minister Conte.[32] In September, +E decided not to support the newly formedConte II Cabinet, despite opposition by Tabacci, Magi and Fusacchia.[33][34] The three voted in favour of the government in the Chamber, while Bonino voted against in the Senate.[35] Consequently, Tabacci led CD, which had continued to be active as an associate party, out of the party.[36][37] However, some leading members of CD, notably includingFabrizio Ferrandelli, chose to stay within +E.[38] Della Vedova reassured that the party would continue activity also after CD's departure.[39] In October, also Fusacchia announced he was leaving the party, which was left with only one deputy, Magi,[40] who remained despited his early support of the government.
In the2020 regional elections, +E won a seat in Campania, falling short in other places, notably in Veneto, Tuscany and Apulia.
In November 2020, Magi and Bonino formed joint sub-groups in theMixed Groups of the Chamber and the Senate, respectively, with the deputies and senators affiliated withAction (A), a political party led byCarlo Calenda. The sub-group in the Chamber counted four deputies, the one in the Senate three senators.[41][42]
In February 2021, Della Vedova was appointed undersecretary of Foreign Affairs inMario Draghi'sgovernment.[43]
In March 2021,Carlo Cottarelli, a former director of theInternational Monetary Fund, was chosen by +E, Action, the PRI, theLiberal Democratic Alliance for Italy (ALI) andThe Liberals to head of a scientific committee designed to elaborate of a joint political program.[44][45][46]
During a national assembly in March, treasurerValerio Federico suffered a motion of no confidence and Bonino left the party in protest. The motion was supported by Magi,Igor Boni,Silvja Manzi,Piercamillo Falasca andCarmelo Palma, the first three leading members of Italian Radicals and the latter two formerly close associates of Della Vedova. Subsequently, Della Vedova resigned as secretary. As a result, a congress should have been held within three months.[47][48][49][50][51][52] Subsequently, Palma replaced Federico as treasurer. In late MayMichele Usuelli was appointed new treasurer and the congress was rescheduled for July.[53]
During theparty's second congress in July, Bonino returned into the party's fold, and Della Vedova, Magi andMaria Saeli were elected secretary, president and treasurer, respectively.[54] Della Vedova received 77% of the vote by delegates and Magi 60%, while Saeli was unopposed.[55]
In January 2022, the party formed a federation with Action.[56]
In the run-up of the2022 general election, +E broke up with Action, as the latter decided not to align with the centre-left coalition led by the PD, but to form a stand-alone list withItalia Viva (IV).[57][58][59] Also, the Italian Radicals disaligned from +E and offered a generic support to the centre-left, without endorsing a specific list.[60] Nevertheless, some of the most senior members the Italian Radicals, like Bonino, Magi, Manzi,Lorenzo Strik Lievers,Manuela Zambrano,Valerio Federico and several others, continued to be active in +E as well and are running as candidates for the party,[61][62][63] which chose to add "Bonino" to its symbol.[64] +E's electoral lists included also some newcomers and/or independents, such asMarco Bentivogli (a reformist trade unionist),Dorina Bianchi (a social-conservative),[65]Gianfranco Librandi (L'Italia c'è and ex-IV),[66]Enzo Peluso (ex-PRI)[67] andFranz Ploner (Team K).[63]
In the election, the party obtained 2.8% of the vote,[68] falling short of the 3% threshold. Della Vedova and Magi were elected to the Chamber from single-seat constituencies, while Bonino was defeated in her Senate constituency.[69] Following the election, the two +E elected deputies andLuca Pastorino ofèViva formed a joint sub-group within the Mixed Group.[70]
In December 2022, treasurer Saeli andFabrizio Ferrandelli, both leading members inSicily, switched to Action.[71]
In February 2023, the party held itsthird congress. Della Vedova chose not to run again for secretary. Magi, a long-time Radical, was elected secretary and Pizzarotti, a former mayor of Parma for the M5S turned independent who had recently joined the party, was appointed president. Originally, Magi and Pizzarotti were rivals for secretary, but a deal was brokered by Bonino. By the way, Pizzarotti's list was the most voted by delegates and will have more representatives in the party's assembly.[72][73][74][75][76]
In March 2024, in the run-up of the2024 European Parliament election, the party gave birth to a broad, liberal and pro-Europeanist list named "United States of Europe", along with the Italian Radicals,Italia Viva, theItalian Socialist Party, theEuropean Liberal Democrats andVolt Italy, in order to overcome the 4% electoral threshold.[77][78] Pizzarotti, who was closer to Action, initially opposed the agreement,[79][80] but the party's assembly finally approved it, with no formal objections.[81] However, Pizzarotti and deputy secretary Falasca chose to leave the party and join Action instead.[82][83] In late April the electoral list was joined also byL'Italia c'è.[84]
In July 2024, the party's assembly elected Bonino as president of the party.[85]
In February 2025, the party held itsfourth congress. Magi was re-elected secretary with 74.0% of the delegates' vote, despite being unopposed, whileMatteo Hallissey, president of the Italian Radicals, was elected president with 69.5% of the vote, by defeating former leader Della Vedova, who obtained 30.5%.[86]
| Party | Main ideology | Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Europa | Liberalism | Benedetto Della Vedova | |
| Team K | Liberalism | Paul Köllensperger | |
| Election | Chamber of Deputies | Senate of the Republic | Leader | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | ||
| 2018 | 841,468 | 2.6 | 3 / 630 | – |  7th | 714,821 | 2.4 | 1 / 315 | – | 7th | Emma Bonino |
| 2022 | 823,932 | 2.8 | 2 / 400 |  1 | 8th | 809,412 | 2.9 | 0 / 200 | 1 | 8th | |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019[a] | Emma Bonino | 833,443 (6th) | 3.11 | 0 / 76 | New | – |
| 2024 | IntoUSE | 0 / 76 | 0 | |||
| Region | Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abruzzo | 2019 | 14,198 (12th) | 2.36 | 0 / 31 | – |
| Apulia | 2020 | 5,062 (19th) | 0.30 | 0 / 51 | – |
| Campania | 2020 | 45,500 (14th) | 1.93 | 1 / 51 |  1 |
| Emilia-Romagna | 2020 | 33,087 (10th)[a] | 1.53 | 0 / 50 | – |
| Lazio | 2023 | 14,870 (14th) | 0.96 | 0 / 50 | 1 |
| Liguria | 2020 | 15,081 (9th)[b] | 2.41 | 0 / 31 | – |
| Lombardy | 2023 | – | – | 0 / 80 | 1 |
| Marche | 2020 | 17,268 (8th)[c] | 2.77 | 0 / 31 | – |
| Piedmont | 2019 | 34,993 (9th) | 1.82 | 0 / 51 | – |
| Veneto | 2020 | 14,246 (12th)[d] | 0.69 | 0 / 51 | – |
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