Centrists for Europe

Centrists for Europe (Italian: Centristi per l'Europa, CpE) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. The party was launched, as Centrists for Italy (Centristi per l'Italia, CpI), by splinters from the Union of the Centre in December 2016 and officially founded, with the current name, in February 2017.^[1] Its most recognisable leader is Pier Ferdinando Casini.^[2]

Centrists for Europe Centristi per l'Europa
Leader	Pier Ferdinando Casini
Coordinator	Gianpiero D'Alia
Founded	6 December 2016; 6 years ago (2016-12-06) (launched) 11 February 2017; 6 years ago (2017-02-11) (founded)
Split from	Union of the Centre
Ideology	Christian democracy Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre
National affiliation	Centre-left coalition
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 400
Senate	1 / 200 (Into PD–IDP)
European Parliament	0 / 76
Website
www.centristixleuropa.it
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

History

In the run-up of the 2016 Italian constitutional referendum the Union of the Centre (UdC) chose to campaign for "No", while the New Centre-Right, the UdC's counterpart in Popular Area (AP), was among the keenest supporters of "Yes".

After the referendum, which saw a huge defeat of the "Yes" side, the UdC left AP altogether. However, some UdC splinters, notably including Pier Ferdinando Casini, Gianpiero D'Alia (who had previously launched Centrists for Sicily) and minister Gian Luca Galletti, launched "Centrists for Italy" and confirmed their alliance with the NCD within Popular Area.^[3][4][5]

The party was officially founded, with the current name, in February 2017.^[6][7] At the time the CpE included one minister (Galletti, who had been confirmed in the Gentiloni Cabinet in December), two deputies (D'Alia and Ferdinando Adornato) and three senators (Casini, Aldo Di Biagio and Luigi Marino).^[8] Also former minister Francesco D'Onofrio joined the party.

In December 2017, the CpE launched the Popular Civic List (CP), within the centre-left coalition, along with Popular Alternative (AP), Italy of Values (IdV), Solidary Democracy (DemoS), the Union for Trentino (UpT), Italy is Popular (IP) and minor parties/groups. The new leader of AP, Beatrice Lorenzin, was chosen as leader of the list too.^[9][10][11]

In the 2018 Italian general election, CP obtained a mere 0.5%, but Casini was re-elected to the Senate from a single-seat constituency in Bologna, thanks to the decisive support of the Democratic Party.

In the 2022 Italian general election, CpE run within the list Democratic Party – Democratic and Progressive Italy (PD–IDP) and Casini was re-elected to the Senate for the single-member constituency of Bologna.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Chamber of Deputies
Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Leader
2018	into CP	0.54	0 / 630	–	Pier Ferdinando Casini
2022	into PD–IDP	–	0 / 400	–	Pier Ferdinando Casini

Senate of the Republic
Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Leader
2018	into CP	0.52	1 / 315	–	Pier Ferdinando Casini
2022	into PD–IDP	–	1 / 200	–	Pier Ferdinando Casini

Regional Councils

Region	Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
Sicily	2017	80,366 (10th)^[a]	4.2	0 / 70	–
Abruzzo	2019	7,839 (13th)	1.3	0 / 31	–

1. In a joint list with AP.

External links

• Official website

References

1. Centristi per l'Europa, l'irriducibile Casini vuole rifare la Dc con molto Sud e tante vecchie glorie.
2. Area Popolare si spacca dopo il referendum. Udc: “L’esperienza, forse mai decollata, si conclude qui”
3. "Fuggi fuggi al Senato: I centristi guardano a Fi. E Alfano resta da solo". 7 December 2016.
4. . www.ilgiornaleditalia.org. Archived from the original on 2016-12-07.
5. "Articolo dall'Archivio Storico".
6. "Nasce "Centristi per l'Europa". Con Casini, il ministro Galletti e d'Alia". 11 February 2017.
7. "Casini ci riprova con la DC". 11 February 2017.
8. "Ecco mosse, progetti e dubbi di Area Popolare su Renzi e voto anticipato". 2 February 2017.
9. "Elezioni, Renzi attacca "l'innaturale alleanza popolari-populisti". Orlando chiede scelte condivise". 29 December 2017.
10. "Centrosinistra, c'è anche il terzo mini-alleato del Pd: Civica Popolare guidata dalla Lorenzin. Simbolo? Una margherita – Il Fatto Quotidiano". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
11. "Nasce "Civica Popolare", lista centrista alleata con il Pd: Lorenzin alla guida".