A letter to all of you

You receive this mail because you signed the petition “More Europe…but of a different kind”. Thus I assume you share its general contents. In the latest months we witnessed a further implosion of the present “European” structure: - The Schengen area is no more than a “wishful thinking” concept, as of now; - A single regional parliament representing 3 M people can block an agreement signed by representatives of 250 M people (I am not giving any specific opinion on this agreement but on the dysfunctional performance of the EU-based decision making process); - Some countries (eastern Europe) tear apart any hope for a united European policy on immigration, others (Italy) react to criticisms on their own budgets with a threat to “block the EU budget”. The EU stays mostly silent on these issues and does not take any active decision, paralyzed by fear. It is clear that the EU today is perceived as an unreliable partner, or even an “unreal” entity. On the political front I see a huge divergence in terms of degree of political offers: for people thinking that the solution to today crisis lies in the return to national states (or even more, to small states like the Grand Duchy of Tuscany; once you start the dissolution process you never know where it will stop) there is plenty of political offers, present in almost any country (Salvini, Le Pen, UKIP…..). On the contrary if you think the crisis can instead be tackled by moving to a real political and economic federation, you have none: no political party to vote for. I say “none” because I think all present politicians who pledge to be “pro Europe” are in real terms “pro EU”, and therefore attached to their national governments (which forged the EU) and against a real European Federation. I think we can and should work to fill this political vacuum. This proposition can sound unrealistic, and I reflected a lot on this. But I think we are in the best position to start such a project, as scientists always perceived the need for cooperation and integration (of resources, ideas, equipment…) much more than any other profession. On a personal basis I see no bright future for me or for my children in the present situation. We will need at a certain point to take “politicians” on board or even to pass the testimony to them; what is important today is that we set such a process in motion. I therefore invite your feedback on this matter: we should build a structure that will be present in many, possibly all European countries. Please let me know if you agree with this proposal and whether you could act as a local hub. Speak to all of you soon. Carlo Gambacorti Passerini MD carlo.gambacorti@unimib.it