European Choice ( it, Scelta Europea, SE) was a

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...

and primarily

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

of political parties in Italy formed to contest the 2014 European election on a platform influenced heavily by the Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt.

History

The list was supported by Civic Choice (SC), Democratic Centre (CD),

Act to Stop the Decline Act to Stop the Decline ( it, Fare per Fermare il Declino, Fare or FFD) was a liberal political party in Italy, founded in 2012 as Stop the Decline (''Fermare il Declino'', FiD). Oscar Giannino and Michele Boldrin have been its main leaders. H ...

(FFD), the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor part ...

(PLI), the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long hist ...

(PRI), the Liberal Democratic Alliance for Italy (ALI), the

Conservatives and Social Reformers The Conservatives and Social Reformers ( it, Conservatori e Social Riformatori, abbr. CSR) was a national conservative political party in Italy. The CSR was formed in October 2012 by Cristiana Muscardini, who had been a long-time MEP with Natio ...

(CSR), the European Federalist Party (PFE) and miscellaneous minor movements. In early March 2014 the list received support from Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium and candidate of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the

European Democratic Party The European Democratic Party (EDP) (French: Parti Démocrate Européen; PDE) also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. François Bayrou is the President of the party. All ...

for President of the European Commission, and the endorsement of

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

, former

Prime Minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

, former President of the European Commission and former president of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Later, on 19 March, CD, FFD and other groups agreed to go forward with the creation of the list without SC whose members criticised the deal and Verhofstadt himself. In particular, senator Pietro Ichino explained that his party could not be part of a grouping so heterogeneous to include groups as diverse as the Conservatives and Social Reformers, whose MEP

Cristiana Muscardini Cristiana Muscardini (born 6 November 1948 in Cannobio) is an Italian politician and freelance writer and publicist. Graduated in philosophy, Cristiana Muscardini was executive of the ''National University Action Front'', the Italian Social Mo ...

, a "nationalist", sat in the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, or MEP Sonia Alfano, a left-winger who had previously tried to join

The Other Europe The Other Europe ( it, L'Altra Europa), whose full name was The Other Europe with Tsipras (''L'Altra Europa con Tsipras'', AET), was a left-wing political organisation in Italy. It took part in the 2014 European Parliament election in support of ...

, a "far-left" anti-austerity list. However, the list went ahead with the participation of SC (as originally planned) and the exclusion of

Italy of Values Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former '' Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the p ...

, the main Italian member of the ALDE Party, and controversial candidates, including Muscardini and Alfano. In the election SE received 0.7% of the vote, being stronger in the South (CD's heartland), and failed to return any MEPs.

Composition

Electoral results

European Parliament

References

External links

* {{Historical Italian political parties Defunct political party alliances in Italy