Suchergebnisse

Attempts to adapt the idea of sovereignty in order to understand the phenomenon of European integration inevitably lead to two opposing theoretical representations: on the one hand, to configure European integration as a process derived from and legitimised by state sovereignty; on the other hand, on the contrary, to consider the European Union as the locus of sovereign legitimation and that this radiates out over the member states. These reconstructions are inadequate: on the one hand, they employ a notion of sovereignty that does not fit the plural organisations of state, and, in particular, the idea of federalism, and, on the other hand, they were unable to valorise the original features of the EU system, its functioning and relations with the member states. The aim is to investigate the prerequisites and limits of the Union's tax power and, to this end, the question of the (preferable) qualification of the Union will be addressed first; then, that of the contents and boundaries of the Union's tax competences in order to verify the ownership of a power to introduce own taxes, having regard to the regulatory function of the Union and the instrumental function for the establishment and functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The essay dwells on the important reflection on the dialectic between war and peace that Trentin opens up in parallel with the first and second Gulf Wars, involving the role of the Union as an international actor and the need for European defense before the waning of American hegemony. The author points out how Trentin participates in the life of the European Parliament with the same intellectual setting that led him heretically to argue that "freedom comes first". Political Europe comes first, he argued. The importance of a political Europe in the governance of globalization is, in fact, central to his tenure in the European Parliament and his battle for the approval of the European Constitution project.

Bruno Trentin's biography represents an ideal prism on the Lefts from the Cold War to globalization, technological innovation and integration processes, and the dialectic between equality and freedom in international communism, the labor movement and European socialism. In addition to his role as "passeur" between Italy and France, Trentin also established a transnational circuit of intellectuals, trade union and political leaders, communists, socialists, democratic Catholics, who crossed the orthodoxies of the Twentieth century, in the name of trade union autonomy and a libertarian socialism based on the indissoluble relationship between Rights, Europe, Federalism. With such interpretative keys, the essay explores the period of the CGIL General Secretary, the election to the European Parliament and the last political interventions (1988-2007).

Using unpublished documents, this volume restores the meeting between two masters in a historical and ideal way: Norberto Bobbio and Silvio Trentin. Through the writings which Bobbio dedicated to Trentin between 1954 and 1991, the readers are introduced to Trentin's world. They gradually discover Trentin's exemplary biography, his clear moral personality and his commitment to anti-fascism and the Resistance, as well as the great themes of his work as a jurist and political thinker: the criticism of fascism, federalism and the idea of the 'third way'. As Bobbio observes, the fundamental reason why Trentin represents a still valuable example is that, through his life and thought, he has perfectly embodied the conception of politics as a desire of justice, as opposed to the will to dominate.

Starting from the reconstruction of Bruno Trentin's transnational network of political and intellectual relationships, the essay analyzes the European and international dimensions of his political and trade union activity from the years of his leadership of the General Secretary up to his experience in the European Parliament. The union of rights and the political program on Europe are the main themes of the essay. They are combined with the question of the construction of political Europe and the institutional reform of the Union, and culminate in his contribution to the European Parliament, in the aftermath of the elaboration of the "European Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," and on the occasion of the debate on the European Constitution.

Based on a research project of the University of Tuscia and of the Alta Scuola SPI-CGIL, the volume delves into Bruno Trentin's intellectual and political thought, from the CGIL General Secretary to his role in the European Parliament. A network of transnational relationships emerges, stretching from the USA to Europe, from Latin America to South Africa, from the Mediterranean to the Middle East. The 'Sindacato dei Diritti' and the European project of the CGIL are thus transferred into the socialist family, in line with Delors' proposal of a Federation of Nation States, and into the battle of the 'Spinelli Group' in favour of the coordination of economic and social policies, of the European Constitution, and of a united Europe in foreign policy and defence. The volume is enriched by unpublished documents in Italian, French, English and Spanish.

Constitution and federalism : the Swiss experience -- Constitution, monarchy, popular sovereignty : the Belgian experience -- Constitution, monarchy, representative government : the French experience -- Constitutional developments and discourses : the Italian experience -- Comparative constitutional history and European perspectives

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Italian National Unity, the Faculty of Political Science "Cesare Alfieri" promoted a series of lessons on an interdisciplinary system on crucial issues of Italy's unitary constitution. At the end of this cycle of readings, on 28 November 2011 the Faculty promoted a day of study on the theme "Which kind of federalism for today's Italy". To this end, scholars were invited to offer their contributes and reflections which, from a historical, constitutional, sociological, political and economic perspective, could help taking the stock of the crucial issue of the federal redefinition of the Italian state. A varied and complex picture emerged, where the different disciplinary perspectives make up an integrated, multifaceted but not contradictory mosaic of possible federalism, aimed at regenerating the institutions of the Republic and their relationship with citizens. The volume collects the results of that day of study and proposes them to the reading of students and scholars.