The European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs – Entrepreneurs' Trade Union (''Liberi Imprenditori Federalisti Europei – Sindacato Imprenditori'', LIFE) is an association of entrepreneurs based in

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, one of the regions of Italy. The LIFE aims at representing and defending the interests of small and medium-sized businesses (which are under-represented in big-business dominated Confindustria, Italian

employers' federation An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

), and takes a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

stance against

big government Big government is a pejorative term for a government or public sector that is considered excessively large or unconstitutionally involved in certain areas of public policy or the private sector. The term may also be used specifically in relatio ...

red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to g ...

, high taxation and monopolies. Its current leader is Lucio Chiavegato, who replaced Fabio Padovan in May 2013. The LIFE was founded in 1994 by a group of Venetist entrepreneurs (among them Fabio Padovan, Lucio Chiavegato and

Diego Cancian Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. E ...

) who were demanding

fiscal federalism As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government" (Oates, 1999). In other words, ...

for

, as an answer to what they called "the fiscal and bureaucratic oppression" by the Italian government, perceived as centralist and distant from the interests and the rights of the " Venetian people". In particular, they decided to organize themselves as a trade union, saying that they were the most oppressed workers in Italy. Since its foundation, the LIFE started to evolve to be a more broadly-based association and indeed in the last years it gained strength among entrepreneurs of Lombardy, Piedmont and

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

. During its history it cooperated both with regionalist movements all around Northern Italy and with the free-market libertarian Bonino List and, in general, with the

Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals ( it, Radicali Italiani, RI) is a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. Founded on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as their first secretary, the party describes itself as "''liberale'', ''liberista'' nd''lib ...

, maintaining even a radio program at Radio Radicale. Some LIFE members had been involved in politics, especially with Liga Veneta–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

. However many of them were soon disillusioned from it, which they perceived as too moderate and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

-centred, and tried to form alternative Venetist parties. Examples include Fabio Padovan (member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for Lega Nord in 1992–1994, founder of

Fronte Marco Polo The Marco Polo Front ( it, Fronte Marco Polo, FMP) was an autonomist and Venetist political party active in Veneto, named after explorer Marco Polo. Fabio Padovan, leader of the European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs (LIFE) and former deputy ...

in 2000 and founding member of Liga Fronte Veneto in 2001),

Giorgio Panto Giorgio Panto (1 October 1941 – 26 November 2006) was an Italian entrepreneur and politician. Panto was born at Meolo, in the Province of Venice. After being a long-time supporter of the Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, in 2004 he founded a new Ve ...

(founder of

North-East Project North-East Project ( it, Progetto NordEst, PNE) is a Venetist, fiscal federalist and libertarian Italian political party based in Veneto, demanding larger autonomy, if not complete independence for the region. History The party was founded ...

in 2004), Diego Cancian (regional councilor for North-East Project in 2005–2010) and Lucio Chiavegato (president of Veneto State in 2011–2012). The LIFE played a leading role in the

2013 Italian social protests In 2013, protests occurred in many parts of Italy, starting on 15 November and ending on 18 December although several protests continued until February. Usual targets have been the government, high taxation, red tape, established parties, the Eu ...

in Veneto. On 2 April 2014 Chiavegato and other leading members of the LIFE were arrested, along with other Venetian separatists (including Franco Rocchetta and two members of the

Venetian Most Serene Government The Venetian Most Serene Government (''Veneto Serenissimo Governo'', VSG), whose members are often referred to as ''Serenissimi'', is a political organization active in Veneto. The group's goal is independence and self-government for Venetian lan ...

), for suspected crimes including criminal association for terrorism and subversion of the democratic order. Chiavegato, who endured a 17-day hunger strike in jail, was released on 18 April, along with Rocchetta and others, as the tribunal of Brescia did not uphold the accusations.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Venetian nationalism Libertarianism