Europa necessaria e possibile: l’europeismo di Giuseppe Petrilli

Following his experience as EEC commissioner with responsibility for social affairs from 1958 to 1960, Petrilli then held the presidency of IRI until 1979. In 1964, he became president of the Italian Council of the European Movement (CIME) and was instrumental in bridging the gap among the various members of the Europeanist front in Italy that followed the fall of the European Defence Community, with Altiero Spinelli’s radical criticism to the functionalism of national governments. Petrilli opposed de Gaulle’s confederalism and supported the project of the direct election of the European Parliament (EP) to start a constituent process. Petrilli held the international presidency of the European Movement (EM) from January 1981 to May 1985, just one month before resigning as president of CIME. Throughout his term of office, Petrilli gave a strong federalist boost to the EM and supported the project of the constitutional treaty approved by the EP on 14 February 1984, on Spinelli’s initiative.