Alle origini dell’idea di parlamento europeo. Il progetto di William Penn

The English quaker William Penn was the first thinker to believe it possible that Europe could equip itself with institutions of its own and autonomous from those of individual states, of a permanent and not just transitory nature, which had as their main task that of resolving international disputes and which, in prospect, could also been dedicated to the civil government of the entire continent. His An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe: By the Establishment of an European Diet, Parliament, Or Estates (1693), can be considered as the first precursor of what, after three centuries, the European Union has become. The article shows the historical and intellectual context in which Penn operated. Although the current European Parliament is much more advanced than Penn could have imagined more than three centuries ago, some of his suggestions are still vital today.