There are now only a few days left until the call to the polls for the European elections and in these few days we are trying to offer you as many candidates as possible to allow you to choose who to vote for, who, in short, is closest to your idea of Europe.
Today there is Talk Sicilia Lidia Tilotta, PD candidate in the Isole constituency. She is a colleague who has chosen to temporarily leave her job as a journalist to take a side and run for office. Why?
I was asked by the Democratic Party as an independent candidate, I thought about it a lot because mine is a fairly delicate role. I started from the analysis of what I have done in recent years and in recent years I have had a “political” commitment in the pure sense of the word. I wrote two books on rights and I spoke about it above all with school children and associations. This experience led me to say that perhaps today returning to a more direct political commitment could be an opportunity to exploit. Until my twenties I was also the director, as well as a militant, of a youth organization, the Italian Communist Youth Federation. I have never denied my past, I am proud of it, so I thought it could be a good choice to carry forward and so I accepted.
So do politics with a spirit of service
A politics with a spirit of service but with the idea that politics can be something else. There is a distance between those involved in politics and citizens, we must rethink this model and make it participatory. I continue to think that politics is the management of complexity and therefore the European Parliament must deal with major issues on the one hand, but it must have another ability, that of listening to the territories and their needs. Those in Europe must dialogue with other institutional levels, with those in the national parliament, in the regional parliament and down to the presidents of the constituencies of the cities.
Europe is an anomalous Parliament, it does not make laws. From this point of view, the role of parliamentarian is perhaps not the most suitable one
True, we don’t make the laws, but we can be decisive in this type of politics. We are already for the idea of a shared welfare across Europe, of a Europe that protects rights and that unlocks the so-called social elevator that has been at a standstill for a while. Those who didn’t come from wealthy families were able to do what they wanted because that social elevator was unlocked. Now that’s not the case. So we need to think of a plan for work that intervenes at a European level on wages, on strengthening collective bargaining, that intervenes on safety issues and that gives new rights for new jobs. It’s not a slogan, it’s something that can actually be done, that’s what working in the European Parliament is for.
One of the great themes is that of the Mediterranean: we no longer talk about it
In fact it must return to the centre. We need to work together because we have to deal with people’s problems and let’s say general problems. We cannot help but think together with the countries of North Africa on all issues whether agricultural or fishing. A common reasoning must be made and in some phases we have tried to do so, there have been policies but now we are at a standstill. The role of Sicily in the Mediterranean and in Europe must absolutely be put back at the center of the political agenda, it is also fundamental with respect to the role of Europe itself and of this Europe in what is the new global geopolitical order, no longer the one that inspired the Ventotene poster. We are going in the direction of a completely different global order, the ongoing wars tell us.
Europe perceived as a distant stepmother dispenser of prohibitions. The producer cannot be left to think that Europe does not let him work
There is a need to build. We need to explain to people that without community funds we won’t go anywhere. We must ensure that action is taken on policies, starting with community agricultural policy. Let’s take drought as an example: the idea must be to have a long-term, visionary project, we must bring together elements and technologies to address the problem of a resource that will be increasingly scarce and increasingly precious. We must think about the overall vision, not the segmented one. Because we could spend every penny of European funds, but it will be of no use if we don’t change our approach. At that point people will understand that Europe is close. There will no longer even be a need to say that we have to go and vote.
Finally, a consideration on today’s conflicts and peace
We have a serious problem, Europe must decide what it wants to do: on the conflict in Ukraine we cannot continue to discuss only weapons, we must have a role in managing the negotiations for the end of this conflict. Just as we cannot but condemn the massacre that is continuing to take place in the Middle East, with Netanyahu doing things that must be condemned. We must decide what Europe wants to be, how it wants to intervene on these issues and what role it wants to play. The fundamental idea is the transfer of sovereignty, the thinking of a Europe that is a single Europe in foreign and defense policy. That is essential, otherwise we will continue to not have a role.
