man , seeks to give us a deeper insight into the democratic and foundational values of the European Union , into that new post-war Europe and its main players . The European Observatory on Memories , which enjoys the support of the European Commission ’ s former Europe for Citizens programme , together with the European Parliament ’ s Jean Monnet House and the Istituto di Studi Federalisti Altiero Spinelli , wish to recover the figure of Altiero Spinelli as one of the founding fathers of the current Union . They have joined forces to develop a compendium of historical biographies , political processes and the history and memorialisation of public and symbolic places as important as the Santo Stefano prison in Ventotene . We hope this approach heeds cross-cutting perspectives , related to gender and memory . Examples include the text on Ursula Hirschmann , who at times played a more discreet role in the process of reflection , debate and authorship of what became an intellectual and political movement of a new and strong democracy in a new and reconstructed federal Europe . As you know , all this is underpinned by the so-called Ventotene Manifesto .
We , the authors , specialists and experts , who engaged in the debates held in previous seminar in May 2021 , have created synergies that extend beyond this joint volume . The aim of our European Observatory on Memories has always been to go one step further and to consolidate the international relations that we establish on the basis of critical reflection and the creation of stable and permanent frameworks . Commemorating Europe and its processes and founders is more necessary than ever . That said , I wish to be optimistic when I assert that it coincides with the establishment of new European programmes that also advocate and foster the past ’ s values in the present , the values of memory and democracy in the rights and freedoms of today ’ s Europe . For example , the European Commission ’ s new Citizenship , Equality , Rights and Values programme . It marks an achievement and a bold resolution that
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