By Bruno Waterfield - 2nd October 2003
The United States of America is the “only precedent” for Europe’s draft constitution Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini has told EUpolitix.com.
In the interview Fini – who was the Italian government’s representative on the European Convention – compares an enlarged Europe’s constitutional project to the work that gave birth to the US.
"Who decided to go ahead with the Convention? It was the government and heads of state who agreed that Europe was to become a 26/27 member union. In more journalistic terms we need to 'breathe life into' the European constitution," he told this website.
"The heads of state at Laeken decided that in order to achieve this great historical goal, a convention would be established without precedent in the history of Europe. In fact the only precedent is that of the Philadelphia convention in the USA."
Comments hinting at a United States of Europe from a senior Italian government figure at a time when Rome holds the EU’s rotating presidency will dismay countries hostile to any mention of the f-word – federal.
Rome is still pressing for a direct reference to Christianity in an EU declaration of values, Fini indicates.
The right-wing politician does not believe a statement of Judeo-Christian values conflicts with a post-Enlightenment or multicultural Europe.
"Even if there are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists as well as Christians and Jews in Europe, if we want to find a deep-rooted historical identity which will make Europeans feel united, we still have to trace back to the fundamental values of Christianity and Judaism,” he said.
"In the words of secular wisdom: 'give unto Caesar what is Caesars' and in this case 'give unto God what is God’s'.”
The ‘post-fascist’ Alleanza Nazionale leader argues that the Christian tradition gave rise to the secular separation of church and state deserving a reference in the EU constitution.
"There are the teachings of the Church from which a catholic politician should, I believe, take inspiration. However it is not a matter of religious faith but a question of identifying the origin of shared European values,” he argues.
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