WRITTEN QUESTION P-0756/02 by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Council. Statements by Mr Bossi.
Date: 2002-03-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, anti-European movement, minister, public statement

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/129

With regard to problems in terms of data availability and time lag in the field of environment, it should be
recognised that a number of environmental indicators will be available with a longer time lag than that
observed for other structural indicators. The Commission will continue its cooperation with the Member
States and the European Environment Agency on the availability for future reports of the best up-to-date
information. The policy analysis in these future reports, amongst others with regard to the issue of climate
change, will reflect the data available.

(2002/C 229 E/145)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0748/02

by Francesco Rutelli (ELDR) to the Council

(19 March 2002)

Subject: Anti-Europe statements ) Lega Nord Congress

In 2000, statements by Mr Haider, a representative of the governing majority but not an actual member of
the Austrian Government, provoked such strong reactions from the other EU Member States that the
Austrian Head of State and Chancellor had to issue formal confirmation of their belief in European
integration and in the values upon which it is based.

Statements by a member of the Italian Government (namely, the minister responsible for institutional
reform, Mr Bossi) concerning the ‘Stalinist’ nature of the European Union are further examples of the kind
of insulting view expressed earlier, such as: ‘The European Charter of Rights was drawn up by an alliance
of Masons, fascists, Nazis and communists;’Europe is a new embodiment of fascism, since it takes power
away from the people’; ‘They want a soviet Europe which denies the rights of the people’.

However, the seriousness of the most recent statements lies specifically in the fact that they were voiced at
the Congress of the governing party (the Lega Nord), which was attended in person by the President of the
Italian Council, Silvio Berlusconi, who was unwilling on that occasion to distinguish between his own
views (or those of the government) and the ones which had just been expressed, thereby confirming them
as indicative of his coalition’s policy.

This could cast doubt on Italy’s willingness to ‘facilitate the achievement of the Community’s tasks’ and to
‘abstain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of
this Treaty’
(Article 10 of the EC Treaty). Under the Treaties the Member States are required to ‘cooperate fairly’ in
European integration and that obligation is all the more incumbent on government members who, as such,
are also members of the EU Council of Ministers.

the objectives of

In the light of the extremely serious anti-European statements issued at the Lega Nord congress, what
action does the Council intend to take in order to seek clarification from the appropriate sources regarding
the Italian Government’s current situation, if only to prevent further unwelcome developments?

(2002/C 229 E/146)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0756/02

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Council

(19 March 2002)

Subject: Statements by Mr Bossi

The Italian minister responsible for institutional reform, Mr Umberto Bossi, has recently described the
European Union as ‘Stalinist’ and as a kind of ‘Forcolandia’ (a colourful, pejorative term which suggests that
the EU promotes acts which undermine the fundamental freedoms of the individual). Other government
representatives share or at least endorse his deplorable views.

C 229 E/130

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Mr Silvio Berlusconi, who is not only President of the Italian Council but also Italy’s temporary Foreign
Minister, attended the Lega Nord congress, where Mr Bossi repeated his accusations and invective aimed at
the entire European Community. Not only did Mr Berlusconi not react to those accusations; he implicitly
endorsed them through his silence and his smiling acquiescence.

Such behaviour on the part of leading representatives of the Italian Government may cast doubt on Italy’s
genuine desire to ‘cooperate fairly’ in European integration.

In particular, such statements indicate that Italy might not ‘facilitate the achievement of the Community’s
tasks’ and might encourage ) actively or passively ) measures which could jeopardise the attainment of
the EC Treaty’s objectives (Article 10 of that Treaty).

What action is the Council intending to take in order to clarify this state of affairs?

(2002/C 229 E/147)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0757/02

by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(19 March 2002)

Subject: Statements by Mr Bossi

The Italian minister responsible for institutional reform, Mr Umberto Bossi, has recently described the
European Union as ‘Stalinist’ and as a kind of ‘Forcolandia’ (a colourful, pejorative term which suggests that
the EU promotes acts which undermine the fundamental freedoms of the individual). Other government
representatives share or at least endorse his deplorable views.

Mr Silvio Berlusconi, who is not only President of the Italian Council but also Italy’s temporary Foreign
Minister, attended the Lega Nord congress, where Mr Bossi repeated his accusations and invective aimed at
the entire European Community. Not only did Mr Berlusconi not react to those accusations; he implicitly
endorsed them through his silence and his smiling acquiescence.

Such behaviour on the part of leading representatives of the Italian Government may cast doubt on Italy’s
genuine desire to ‘cooperate fairly’ in European integration.

In particular, such statements indicate that Italy might not ‘facilitate the achievement of the Community’s
tasks’ and might encourage ) actively or passively ) measures which could jeopardise the attainment of
the EC Treaty’s objectives (Article 10 of that Treaty).

What action is the Council intending to take in order to clarify this state of affairs?

(2002/C 229 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0779/02

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(19 March 2002)

Subject: Italian Government statements falling outside the democratic framework of

the Charter of

Fundamental Rights

At the recent congress of the Lega Nord, a party which holds three important ministries in the Italian
Government headed by Mr Berlusconi, the party secretary, Umberto Bossi, Minister for Institutional
Reforms, expressed a number of political views of an extremely serious nature, opposing the democratic
principles established by the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This is not just a case of a legitimate anti-European point of view which we do not endorse. The
statements made by ministers of the Berlusconi Government at the Lega Nord congress, which Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi approves since he did not dispute them at the congress, are in blatant violation
of the principles on which the European Union is founded, as set out in Article 6 of the TEU.