6 June 1995

Doc. 7307

       Revised 2

WRITTEN DECLARATION No. 240

on Genoa and Venice, city-states in a Federal state

This written declaration commits only the members who have signed it

      The undersigned, members of the Assembly,

      Considering that the despoilment of the State Mint and the Treasury of the Banco di S. Giorgio (St George Bank) of the Genoan Republic, as was also the case with the State Mint and the deposits of the State Bank of the Venetian Republic, led the Congress of Vienna to annex Genoa to the Piedmont in the Kingdom of Sardinia and Venice to Austria, to avoid having to compensate for the damage caused by the French occupation during the Napoleonic Wars;

      Considering the economic history of these two cities and their decadence after 1918 and the transfer of property of their ports to the Italian State;

      Considering their potential for development, particularly in the case of Genoa, whose geographical location makes it Europe`s southern transport terminal;

      Considering Article 132 of the Italian Constitution and Article 3B of the Treaty on European Union;

      Recalling that the two great Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Bremen have been able to develop, as city-states, decentralised and effective politico-administrative decision-making power,

      Assert that the federal solution is the best instrument for protecting the numerous ethnic, cultural and socio-economic situations in Italy and in the context of Europe,

      Ask that, in the desire to implement the Federal state, Genoa and Venice and their regions be permitted to accede to the status of city-states. Indeed, it appears, at present, to be a matter of urgency that the cities of Genoa and Venice be permitted to take possession of their ports and coastlines which will be managed by the municipal authorities. In so doing, Genoa and Venice would provide a source of wealth and development for the regions of Liguria and Venetia, become more freely and more productively integrated into the rest of Europe and achieve very substantial results within a global economy.

Signed:

Serra, Italy, LDR

Severin, Romania, SOC

Speroni, Italy, LDR

Olarte, Spain, -

Total = 4

*       SOC : Socialist Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group