Mario Albertini’s Strategic Turning Point:

Constitutional Gradualism

In the battle for the EDC, the constituent strategy theorized by Altiero Spinelli was aptly applied and lucidly implemented, also thanks to the strong support of the Italian government led by De Gasperi⁶� After the

6 For an exhaustive analysis of the federalist struggle for the EDC see Preda, D�, Sulla soglia dell’Unione. La vicenda della Comunità Politica Europea (1952-1954), Milan, Jaca Book, 1993�

failure of the EDC, we should not, therefore be surprised if the relaunch of the integration process, decided by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, was harshly criticised by the federalists� In an article of September 1957 entitled The Joke of the Common Market, Spinelli wrote that: “to make the European common market we need a European political technique and political soul: in simple terms we need a European government, equipped with all the tools a government requires to be obeyed, and European laws according to which that government would act� The Common Market Treaty ignores this basic notion� The implementation of the Treaty is entrusted to the good will and harmony of six sovereign governments�

[…] Currency, legislation, the armed forces and diplomacy all remain in the hands of the individual states�”⁷ In 1965, on occasion of an important stage in the creation of the Common Market, namely establishing a single price for grain, Albertini spoke in the same terms that Spinelli had used in 1957� Despite the observation that “the agreement on agriculture is probably a sign that Europe really has crossed the threshold of irreversibility with regard to the integration process,” Albertini maintained that: “economic integration now concerns not only the issue of currency, but also the general question of planning on a European level�”⁸ Yet for Albertini this advanced level of integration was a sign that a European government was now necessary, and that national political forces could no longer sidestep the challenge� National governments had followed a tortuous path� “Turning the question on its head, they reasoned in this way: as there can be no common market without a common currency, and no common currency without a common government, let’s gradually build the market and the common currency and common government will follow� Now most of the work has been done, it is time to take them at their word�”⁹ This therefore lent weight to the Federalists’ claim for the constituent power of the European federal people, supported by the citizens’ endorsement of the Campaign for the Census� Ultimately, the construction of the European market had reached the point where it was necessary to have a European currency and a European government:

the European constituent represented the appropriate response to the contradictions within the process of integration�

Even when the campaign for the direct election of the European Parliament was launched, the MFE did not waver from its original

7 Spinelli, A�, “La beffa del Mercato Comune”, in L’Europa non cade dal cielo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1960, p� 282-287�

8 Albertini, M�, Tutti gli scritti, Mosconi, N� (ed�), Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006-2010, Vol� V, p� 108-9 (hereinafter referred to as TS)�

9 Ibidem, p� 111�

objective, namely the constituent assembly� In 1967, Albertini presented the Campaign merely as a change of direction with respect to the criticism previously directed at the European Parliament� He reasoned as follows:

“The federalists have always maintained that, in order to found a European federal state it is necessary to convene a Constituent Assembly, and until recently they have taken a fairly sceptical view of the idea of European election of a parliament like that of Strasbourg, with no real powers�”

Now it was time to acknowledge that: “with the European elections, the parties will have to take a stand on a supranational level, and that fact alone will transfer power from the national to the European level�” Given that the Common Market had reached the threshold of irreversibility due to the large number of interests involved, it was time for “the fuse to be lit�” The starting point could not be the Constituent Assembly;

the endpoint, “albeit difficult to predict at present, would necessarily be constituent in nature�”¹⁰ The image of the “fuse” seamlessly connected the immediate action for direct elections to the European Parliament with the overall objective, namely the constituent Assembly�

It was only after the Hague Summit and its decision to formulate a project for economic and Monetary Union (EMU), that Albertini was forced to rethink the federalist strategy� The aim of creating a European currency could not be regarded as a political priority for the federalists, without first clarifying the links with the crucial aim of creating a European Federation and the constituent role of the European people� At a 1970 meeting, Albertini succinctly presented the strategic turning point, which later became known as constitutional gradualism� In economic terms, Albertini commented, “It was a question of transforming a group of national currencies, with limited opportunities on the international scene, into a national currency that would cover the entire area in question�

In political terms the aim was to create a constitutionally defined public will in the same area� This can be summed up with the idea that we cannot plan for European monetary unification without planning for a European federal state”� However, this connection between economic and political issues was not permitted to develop in a linear way in the process of integration, due to the inability, or unwillingness, of the political class to call the framework of national power into question� It was therefore necessary to “shake up the mental torpor that makes people believe it is impossible to achieve things they are not aware of or don’t want to think about�” This was the way used to win over the reluctant political class and ensure it could not reject the final objective, a European

10 Albertini, M�, “Il significato politico della campagna per l’elezione diretta unilaterale dei membri del Parlamento europeo”, TS, Vol� V, p� 351-355, cit� p� 352-353�

Federation� “One of the decisive points,” Albertini asserted, “is that we have to go against logic and propose a gradual operation of monetary union, prior to and not following the creation of a European political power, constitutionally defined, because those involved in process, on an executive level […] do not behave according to logical criteria� It is a ruse to get those involved onto an “inclined plane” – as federal activists put it  – towards the creation of a European power� If you can make someone do something that implies a precondition, that person might find themself needing to create it�”¹¹

Albertini clarified the concept of the “inclined plane”, namely a situation brought about more by circumstances than the will of political forces, and the relationship between European elections, European currency and European government in an essay of 1976¹²� Firstly he tackles the issue of the European constituent, which could not be likened to the constituent assembly of an existing state, in which it is possible to reorder the political basis of consensus without radically rethinking the foundations of the state, such as defence, justice, public administration, etc� As Albertini stated, “By its very nature, the European constituent cannot coincide with the work of a constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a permanent Constitution in the space of a few months� In Europe there is no existing European state waiting to be given a constitutional form� In Europe the very state itself has to be created, in literal terms, which is why we need to appoint an authority to do it� And the one thing that the events of European integration should have taught us by now is that it is only with an initial form of European state (to be established by a dedicated constituent assembly) that the process of forming a definitive European state can be started� The paradox of ‘creating a state to create a state’ should not be cause for concern� Kant himself encountered a similar paradox (a state of states), but that did not stop him from using that very paradox as the basis of perpetual peace�”¹³ The historical situation of Europe, with an advanced level of economic integration and the prospect in the near future of citizens directly electing the European Parliament, meant that the issue of a European constituent could, and should, be addressed in a new way� “To decide whether the creation of a European state is possible,” Albertini wrote, “it is not a question of seeing whether it is possible to convene a constituent assembly in the traditional sense,

11 Albertini, M�, “Aspetti politici dell’unificazione monetaria”, TS, Vol� V, p� 775-786, cit� on p� 777-779�

12 Albertini, M�, “Elezione europea, governo europeo e Stato europeo”, TS, Vol� VII, p� 159-171�

13 Ibidem, p� 162�

but whether a process like the one I have described, which should consist of individual constituent acts that strengthen the level of the constituent process, making further constituent acts possible and so on (with a European Parliament which would effectively play the role of ‘permanent constituent assembly,’ in the words of Willy Brandt), is about to begin or has already begun�”¹⁴

Albertini also clarified the close connection between the three objectives: the election of the European Parliament, the European currency and the European government� “As has been said and as was shown by the failure of the Werner Plan, the idea of creating a European currency before creating a European power capable of introducing a European economic policy is a contradictory one� Holding a European election for a powerless European Parliament is meaningless, just as a Union not represented by a genuine European government is meaningless� And it is wrong to take these three issues separately� In actual fact all three refer to the same thing: the current state of play of European integration�

Together, they represent the platform for relaunching Europe�”¹⁵ The conclusion is that: “a Union which has already been given the right to vote for the Union, and not only for the states, is practically a federation, that is a constitutional system that determines the existence of a people�

On the other hand, on this basis, i�e� on the path toward federation, the aim of creating a European currency and a real European economy ceases to be contradictory�”¹⁶