On September 15, at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-Chairman of the Greens, Isabelle Durant, Vice-President of the European Parliament and Sylvie Goulard, member of the ALDE Group, launched an initiative called Spinelli Group to gather MEPs, intellectuals and citizens in favor of a Communitarian Europe, ready to place the interests of Europe ahead of narrower interests.

To promote a truly European approach, they have drawn up the following manifesto, which summarizes their beliefs: the need to encourage post-national approaches to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, and to tell the truth about the limits of political power as it is organized today.

The Group will notably work in the form of a "Shadow Council" on the eve of important European Council meetings. It will meet to advance concrete proposals based on the Community method, in a federal perspective, and to denounce the nationalism of some governments which feeds a growing collective impotence and slows the emergence of Europe in the world.

Its members would like to push ideas like, for example, a European army, a more integrated economic policy, an independent European budget, funded by own resources, an energy-saving community, a Europe based on closer cultural and human links.

The Group plans acting on three levels: 1) at the European Parliament, bringing together members of all colors, ready to engage in their legislative and political actions to influence developments. 2) Via a steering committee which brings together European personalities from different backgrounds, political or academic officials and intellectuals, experienced and more junior. Among these, Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, Ulrich Beck, a sociologist, Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, Mario Monti, former European Commissioner and President of the Bocconi University, Joschka Fischer, former German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elie Barnavi, historian and diplomat and also Andrew Duff, Danuta Hubner, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and others. 3) Through the internet-based Spinelli network, open to everyone, which will allow a convergence of ideas and proposals from civil society, experts and elected officials.

To sign the manifesto and read more about the Spinelli Group, visit http://www.spinelligroup.eu.