# Francesca Romana D'Antuono
## Professional career

D'Antuono was born in the Italian region of Campania and grew up in Rome. She studied pharmacy at Sapienza University of Rome from 2006 to 2010, then continued her studies at the University of Geneva, later specializing in marketing, management, and health policy in 2014-2015. In subsequent years, she worked in marketing for AstraZeneca in Milan, Menarini in Florence, and Berlin-Chemie in Berlin.
In 2021, after being elected Co-President of Volt, D'Antuono decided to put her professional career on hold to focus entirely on activism and politics.

## Political Activity

Francesca Romana D'Antuono is currently the co-president of Volt Europa alongside Mels Klabbers.

### Volt Italia

Francesca Romana D'Antuono began her political career in 2019 when she became involved with Volt Italia's campaign for the European elections and decided to join the Volt Florence group. Just a few months later, she was elected local coordinator, a role she held from 2019 to 2020.
Upon moving to Berlin, D'Antuono relinquished her role as local coordinator of Volt Florence, later becoming the coordinator of public relations for Volt Italia.

### Volt Europa

In October 2021, she was elected co-president of Volt Europa alongside Reinier van Lanschot. During her tenure, she has supported various national elections for local Volt representatives and promoted the establishment of new local chapters of the party.
In November 2023, D'Antuono was re-elected as co-president of Volt Europa, alongside Mels Klabbers from Volt Netherlands.
In 2024, D'Antuono led the party during the campaign for the European elections. In these elections, Volt Europa contested in 15 European countries, running under its own list and symbol in 10 of them (Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden). In Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, and the Czech Republic, Volt candidates joined politically aligned lists instead. This marked a significant increase compared to the 2019 elections, where Volt was represented in only 8 EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden). For these elections, Volt also created its first symbolic transnational list for the 2024 European elections, including non-EU countries like Albania and the UK.
After the elections, Volt Europa increased its MEP count from 1 (Damian Boeselager, elected in Germany in 2019) to 5 (Anna Strolenberg and Reinier van Lanschot, elected in the Netherlands, and Damian Boeselager, Nela Riehl, and Kai Tegethoff, elected in Germany).
D'Antuono's presidency was marked by significant growth for Volt Europa across the continent, with the party's full-time staff increasing from 3 to 13, peaking at over 20 during the European election campaign. During her leadership, D’Antuono also focused on establishing new national chapters and strengthening smaller ones, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe:
In Cyprus, where Volt is the only party on the island that includes both Greek and Turkish community members in its leadership and founding committee.; In Greece, where Volt elected one of Athens' deputy mayors (Olga Dorou) just one year after its founding.; In Slovakia.; In Romania, where Volt elected councilors in two local administrations during the 2024 municipal elections, securing over 20% of the votes.

## Political Positions

Francesca Romanda d'Antuono's political vision aligns with progressivism, social democracy, and environmentalism.

### Immigration

D'Antuono's views on immigration are among the most progressive in the political spectrum. In her statements, she points to the requirement that asylum policies are based on international treaties and, most importantly, on respect for human dignity. D'Antuono has strongly criticized both European and Italian asylum and migration policies, advocating for a continent-wide harmonization of asylum procedures, reestablishing an official Search and Rescue system not delegated to NGOs, and increasing EU resources for reception and integration.
In November 2024, D'Antuono visited the asylum seekers’ center in Gjader, Albania, together with MEPs from Volt Europa and a delegation of Italian and Albanian Volt members. This center was strongly promoted by the Giorgia Meloni government but has been criticized for its state of semi-abandonment, which D’Antuono commented on the press.
The visit to the detention center in Albania also served as an opportunity for D’Antuono to protest, alongside the Network Against Migrant Detention, of which she is a member, against current Italian and European migration policies.

### Economic Inequalities

The fight against economic inequalities is one of D’Antuono’s core themes. She has often criticized center-left parties for their general lack of support to these issues, which she argues is the main reason for their declining support among working-class voters.
For D’Antuono, reducing inequalities starts with a profound revision of the taxation system. Her goal is to enhance fiscal justice by making taxation genuinely progressive and reducing opportunities for evasion. In line with Volt's Europeanist approach, D’Antuono advocates for accelerating European unity to end the “race to the bottom” that benefits large multinationals. She proposes tax harmonization, imposing a minimum effective tax rate, creating a European Ministry of Finance to facilitate mandatory automatic information exchange among EU Member States, and implementing a central wealth registry by merging data from national sources.
Broadening her perspective, D’Antuono also supports the establishment of a universal European minimum wage as a key measure to reduce poverty and economic disparities.
D’Antuono has also been particularly critical of the Meloni government regarding its lack of commitment to fighting poverty and inequalities.
She frequently emphasizes the strong link between social justice and climate justice, highlighting their intrinsic connection.

### European Democracy

In line with Volt Europa's pan-Europeanism, D’Antuono advocates for a radical revision of European institutions to develop a true European democracy capable of decisively addressing global challenges.
D’Antuono has also spoken out about the structural rigidity of the Italian political system toward new political entities, especially compared to other European countries like Germany and the Netherlands. She argues that the combination of laws and regulations governing political participation in Italy creates a system favoring personality-driven parties with substantial financial resources.
To address this, D’Antuono supports the proposal for a European electoral law to standardize the regulations for European elections across all EU countries. Under this proposal, citizens would vote not only for their national candidates but also for transnational lists. The plan includes lowering the voting age to 16 and mandating gender alternation in electoral lists.

### Fighting Climate Change

D’Antuono has taken a firm stance on climate change, demanding more effective and radical action from politicians and governments.
She aligns with the positions of major climate activism groups like Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future. Specifically, D’Antuono has expressed strong support for climate activism and has defended activists in the media.
While engaged on the issue institutionally, D’Antuono sympathizes with activist movements, including those employing civil disobedience that has sparked wide media and public debate.

### Other Topics

Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, D’Antuono has aligned with Volt Europa’s position, advocating strong and clear support for Ukraine and an acceleration of its EU accession process.
On the recent escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, D’Antuono has called for an immediate ceasefire, recognized signs of potential genocide in Gaza, and stressed the importance of a united and strong European Union in foreign policy.