Forza Italia’s Entry Into the EPP: A Natural Destiny

The results of the first continental elections following these events, the renewal of the European Parliament in June 1994, reflected this new dynamic, with the number of seats won by the popular¹ parties of these two large countries drastically reduced. In Italy the ballot attested to the triumph of Forza Italia, which won 27 seats, enough to create a parliamentary group of its own: Forza Europa. In contrast, only 9 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) —compared to 26 previously—were elected for the PPI, which had inherited membership of the EPP from Democrazia Cristiana. During the legislature all the parliamentary groups began to reflect on how best to deal with the ongoing transformation of the political spectrum. Forza Europa and the French RPR joined forces with other delegations, forming a new political group, following the reform that prohibited single-party groups: the Union for Europe (UFE).

At the time, the signing of the Maastricht Treaty had just given the European Economic Community a further political boost, and within the EPP a debate inevitably arose: should it remain a group of traditional Christian Democratic parties, despite the risk of the party becoming less influential in the newly formed EU, or should it open up in the light of the ongoing political and social changes? A number of EPP member parties were concerned about the possible denaturalisation of the popular family, particularly in the Benelux countries and Ireland. Many others had a different vision, and these included one of the great EPP leaders of those years and a protagonist of major geopolitical changes for Europe and the entire world, Helmut Kohl. The chancellor of the newly united Germany understood that leaving space on the right of the political spectrum would lead the EPP into decline. By contrast, opening up to the new moderate forces would guarantee the party a leadership role in the EU for the next 30 years. The EPP had already started to welcome to its membership parties that were not entirely Christian Democratic, such as the Spanish Partido Popular in 1991. Indeed, the support of the Spanish leader José María Aznar was fundamental to keeping the EPP on course for its expansion. The dialogue between the EPP and the delegations belonging to the UFE Group began to intensify during 1998. At the time, the members of the UFE were working towards forming their own European party and had convened a constituent meeting in Vienna with the expected participation of Silvio Berlusconi.

However, the unexpected happened when, on 5 May 1998, the Italian region of Campania was hit by devastating floods that caused 161 deaths and displaced thousands of families. Berlusconi, at the time the national leader of the opposition, immediately decided to show his solidarity with the flood victims and, as a result, did not attend the meeting of the new European centre–right in Vienna. This unforeseen natural disaster resulted in a limp start for the UFE, as Berlusconi would have been the most prominent leader in the new party. These circumstances provided an opportunity for the EPP family and accelerated the process of Forza Italia becoming an EPP member. With the 1999 European Parliament elections looming, there was a new push for Forza Italia to join the EPP as many member party leaders did not want a rival force to exist that would be capable of attracting parties and votes on the centre–right. The objective was set: Forza Italia had to join the EPP before these important elections. Wilfried Martens, at the time president of both the Group and the party, played a key role in convincing the sceptics within the EPP, starting with his own party, the CD&V, which was among those that were reluctant to permit the entry of forces that were not purely centrist. This was not the only challenge: the PPI had struck a deal to enter the centre–left government coalition in Italy and therefore began to campaign against welcoming Forza Italia into the EPP.

The most critical moment occurred when it was proposed that Forza Italia should not join as a whole delegation but that each elected MEP should be admitted individually into the EPP Group. Thanks to Silvio Berlusconi’s intuition, Forza Italia accepted this suggestion, despite its political cost. Within Forza Italia there were some members who opposed this option, as the EPP was seen as the party not only of former Democrazia Cristiana members, but also of several former Italian socialists and liberals. The admission of the Forza Italia deputies was planned for the Group meeting of June 1998. In the days preceding the meeting the tension was palpable. The MEPs from the PPI, together with the delegations from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and some small Spanish parties not allied with Aznar, threatened not to participate in the vote. This would have made it impossible to reach the quorum required for the validation of the new membership. At the eleventh hour a compromise was reached, and almost all the Forza Italia MEPs finally joined the EPP Group.

After the period of 1994–8, during which Italy had been underrepresented in the EPP, it finally returned to being a protagonist due to the presence of Forza Italia and thanks to the determination of our late president, Silvio Berlusconi. Since 1998 Forza Italia and the EPP have shared a common history, and this will continue for a long time to come. At the European elections of 1999, Forza Italia presented itself under the umbrella of the EPP, and, thanks to the election of a strong Italian delegation of 22 deputies, the party was successful in rebalancing the composition of the new institutional structures of the EU. In 2002 I was elected vice-president of the party for the first time; indeed, I received the most votes of any of the vice-presidents elected at that time; during the subsequent legislature, Forza Italia was the national party delegation that voted in line with the EPP voting lists more than any other.

Since the 1999 elections, the EPP has remained the strongest transnational party in Europe, always managing to appoint its leader—José Manuel Barroso, Jean-Claude Junker and now Ursula von der Leyen—as the head of the European Commission. Forza Italia continues to be a proud member of the EPP and a staunch defender of our common values. We have been protagonists under the successive leaderships of Wilfried Martens, Joseph Daul and Donald Tusk, and continue to be so today, under Manfred Weber. We know that the EPP is the only party that can deliver a more prosperous, competitive and secure EU, and we will continue to bring forward our ideas and principles, and those of the great popular leaders before us: from Don Luigi Sturzo to Robert Schuman, from Alcide De Gasperi to Konrad Adenauer and from Helmut Kohl to Silvio Berlusconi.