the member states of the European Community signed the 'Act concerning the Election of the Representatives of the Assembly by Direct Universal Elections', which was to introduce direct elections for the European Parliament in the member states. National parliamentary debates about the principle as well as the implementation of these elections were held in every member state. On the basis of these debates, this article investigates the ideas about European democracy that existed among members of national parliaments. It demonstrates that there were fundamentally different philosophies about the role of the European Parliament and its relation to national parliament and various thoughts about the nature of European representation and the link to the voters. Finally, the article explores to what extent the national parliamentary debates can truly be seen as parts of a European debate. 1 1. This article is based on case studies by Hilde Reiding (the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland), Joachim Wintzer (Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium), Thorsten Borring Olesen (Denmark), Marloes Beers (France) and Valentine Lomellini (Italy). The text of the article was written by Hilde Reiding
This article investigates the key role played by the peace movement in re-defining the Italian Communist Party’s (PCI’s) identity, after the failure of the Eurocommunist project and the end of the historical compromise strategy in Italy. The first part of the article is dedicated to the international dimension: the relationship between the PCI and the Kremlin on the issue of peace protests, which was characterized both by growing mutual intolerance and the need to maintain a strong and effective internationalist tie. The second part examines how the PCI struggled domestically to deal with new political actors involved in peace mobilisation and the challenges of maintaining the hegemony within the peace movement. The article argues that the challenge posed by the surge of peace movement represented a genuine, albeit missed opportunity for the PCI to renew its own political identity.
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