In an op-ed published on 24 July 2008 on Il Corriere della Sera, Gianfranco Fini, Massimo D’Alema, Giorgio La Malfa, Arturo Parisi and Francesco Calogero called for Italy and Europe to make their contribution to the propagation of new ‘shared vision’ and pave the way toward the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. “Man’s very survival,” reads the article, “…depends on acknowledgement of a superior and common interest in this matter”. Two of the authors are close to the current President Silvio Berlusconi.
Italy ratified the NPT in 1975, yet hosts on its territory American nuclear weapons – unspecified in number and location – and participates in NATO nuclear sharing.
On 27 March 2008, a Draft Bill to make Italy a nuclear weapons-free zone was presented to the Lower Chamber of the Italian Parliament, proposing to make Italian territorial waters free from nuclear weapons, and banning the transit of ships or submarines carrying nuclear warheads. Article 1 gives the Government 60 days (from the deposit) to initiate the process. The bill is now under the examination of the III Commission for Foreign Affairs of which Giorgio la Malfa, Arturo Parisi and Massimo D’Alema are members.