Autonomists for Europe ( it, Autonomisti per l'Europa, ApE) was a minor regionalist,

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

and

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 ...

Italian political party. Founded in 2000 by splinters of Northern League as a potentially dangerous competitor, it became a rather marginal force. The party was mainly composed by moderate members of the Northern League who wanted to join forces with

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

's Forza Italia, at a time when the League was perceived to be closer to the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

. Its leading members were

Vito Gnutti Vito Gnutti (14 September 1939 – 6 December 2008) was an Italian politician. Biography A member of the Executive Committee of Confindustria, in 1991 Gnutti joined the Northern League. He has been MP from 1992 to 2001 and in 1994 he served as ...

and

Domenico Comino Domenico Comino (born 27 September 1955) is an Italian politician, who served as the minister of European affairs and state minister in the mid-1990s. Biography Comino was born in Morozzo on 27 September 1955. He is one of the former leaders of ...

, both former Ministers for Northern League in the

Berlusconi I Cabinet The first Berlusconi government was the 51st government of the Italian Republic. It was the first right-wing and non-Christian Democrats government since World War II. Berlusconi resigned on 22 December 1994. History In order to win the March ...

History

The party was started as a federation of regional parties on the example of the Northern League: Lombardy Lombardy (''Lombardia Lombardia'') of Daniele Roscia, Future Veneto (''Veneto Futuro'') of Giuseppe Ceccato, Piedmontese Federalist Movement (''Movimento Federalista Piemontese'') of

, Federalist Movement Emilia (''Movimento Federalista Emilia'') of Giorgio Cavitelli, Julian Front (''Fronte Giuliano'') of Giorgio Marchesich, Future Liguria (''Liguria Futura'') of Roberto Avogadro and Tuscan Homelands (''Patrie Toscane'') of Norberto Catalani. Future Veneto eventually merged with the Liga Veneta Repubblica to form Veneti d'Europa and ceased to exist, while the Julian Front soon re-gained much of its independence. Initially the party had five members in the Chamber of Deputies (Domenico Comino, Mario Lucio Barral, Franca Gambato, Daniele Roscia and Stefano Signorini) and six in the Senate (Vito Gnutti, Roberto Avogadro, Giuseppe Ceccato, Luciano Lago, Luciano Lorenzi and Donato Manfroi). Later, in the Senate, a parliamentarian joined ( Walter Bianco) and prior to the 2001 general election the Autonomists formed a group with some members of

European Democracy European Democracy ( it, Democrazia Europea, DE) was a minor Christian-democratic, centrist political party in Italy. History European Democracy was founded in 2001 by Sergio D'Antoni (former leader of the Italian Confederation of Workers' Tra ...

( Giovanni Polidoro,

Ortensio Zecchino Ortensio Zecchino (born 20 April 1943) is an Italian academic and politician, former Minister of University and Research. Biography After teaching History of Medieval Institutions at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, Zecchino jo ...

and Giulio Andreotti), which had split from the Italian People's Party. When the Northern League formed an alliance with Forza Italia and the other parties of the House of Freedoms, ApE lost its reason of existence. At that time ApE was almost disbanded and most of its members joined the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC). What remains of the party took part only to local electoral contexts, often under the banner of other larger parties, such as the

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 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. At the national level the party generally supported The Union, the centre-left coalition led by

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autonomists For Europe Conservative parties in Italy Christian democratic parties in Italy Catholic political parties Liberal parties in Italy Regionalist parties in Italy Defunct political parties in Italy 2000 establishments in Italy Political parties established in 2000 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing