Francesca Romana D'Antuono

Francesca Romana D'Antuono
D'Antuono in 2023
Co-President of Volt Europa
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 2023
In office
October 2021 – November 2023
Personal details
Born (1987-08-29) 29 August 1987
Vico Equense, Italy
PartyVolt (since 2019)
Children1[1]
Education
  • Bachelor's degree in pharmacy
  • Master's degree in marketing and health policy
Alma materSapienza University of Rome
University of Geneva
OccupationPharmaceutical company executive

Francesca Romana D'Antuono (born 1987) is an Italian politician and the co-president of Volt Europa political party. After working in marketing, D'Antuono became involved with Volt. She served as a local coordinator for Volt Italia from 2019 to 2020[2] and later its coordinator of public relations. In October 2021, she was elected co-president of Volt Europa alongside Reinier van Lanschot. In November 2023, she was re-elected co-president, alongside Mels Klabbers from Volt Netherlands.[3]

Life and Career

D'Antuono was born in the Italian region of Campania and grew up in Rome.[4] She studied pharmacy at Sapienza University of Rome from 2006 to 2010, then continued her studies at the University of Geneva, later specializing in marketing, management, and health policy in 2014-2015. In subsequent years, she worked in marketing for AstraZeneca in Milan, Menarini in Florence, and Berlin-Chemie in Berlin.

Politics

Since 2021 D'Antuno serves in a full-time role as Co-President of Volt Europa[5][6]

Volt Italy and Europa

In September 2019 Francesca Romana D'Antuono was elected as a local coordinator for Volt Florence, a role she held from 2019 to 2020.[2] Afterwards, she became the coordinator of the public relations team for Volt Italy.[7]

In October 2021, she was elected co-president of Volt Europa alongside Reinier van Lanschot. During her tenure, she has supported various national elections for local Volt representatives[8] and promoted the establishment of new local chapters of the party.[9]

In November 2023, D'Antuono was re-elected as co-president of Volt Europa, alongside Mels Klabbers from Volt Netherlands.[3] During the European elections held during her term as president, the party stood in significantly more countries and improved its result considerably, resulting in the party gaining four additional seats in the European Parliament.[10][11][12]

Political positions

Migration

In her statements, she points to the requirement that asylum policies are based on international treaties and respect for human dignity.[13] D'Antuono has strongly criticized both European and Italian asylum and migration policies, advocating for a continent-wide harmonization of asylum procedures, reestablishing an official Search and Rescue system not delegated to NGOs, and increasing EU resources for reception and integration.[14]

In November 2024, D'Antuono visited the asylum seekers’ center in Gjader, Albania, together with MEPs from Volt Europa and a delegation of Italian and Albanian Volt members. Aftherwards she criticised the project promoted by the Giorgia Meloni government and reported that staff are already leaving the facilities again.[15][16]

Economic Inequalities

For D’Antuono, reducing inequalities starts with a profound revision of the taxation system. Her goal is to enhance fiscal justice by making taxation genuinely progressive and reducing opportunities for evasion. D’Antuono advocates for accelerating European unity to end the “race to the bottom” that benefits large multinational companies. She proposes tax harmonization, imposing a minimum effective tax rate, creating a European Ministry of Finance to facilitate mandatory automatic information exchange among EU Member States, and implementing a central wealth registry by merging data from national sources.[17] Additional she supports the establishment of a universal European minimum wage as a key measure to reduce poverty and economic disparities.[18] According to D'Antuono, the lack of support for these issues from centre-left parties is, in her view, responsible for the decline in support from working-class voters.[19]

D’Antuono has also been particularly critical of the Meloni government regarding its lack of commitment to fighting poverty and inequalities.[20]

She frequently emphasizes the strong link between social justice and climate justice, highlighting their intrinsic connection.[21]

European Democracy

D’Antuono advocates for a radical revision of European institutions to develop a true European democracy capable of decisively addressing global challenges.[22] She has also spoken out about the structural rigidity of the Italian political system toward new political entities, especially compared to other European countries like Germany and the Netherlands. She argues that the combination of laws and regulations governing political participation in Italy creates a system favoring personality-driven parties with substantial financial resources.[23]

To address this, D’Antuono supports the proposal for a European electoral law to standardize the regulations for European elections across all EU countries. Under this proposal, citizens would vote not only for their national candidates but also for transnational lists. The plan includes lowering the voting age to 16 and mandating gender alternation in electoral lists.[24]

Women's and minority rights

D’Antuono is committed to the inclusion and advancement of women in leadership roles and strives for equal political representation. She criticises inequalities in the medical field, such as the fact that less is known about diseases and the effects of medication on the female body, that illnesses are diagnosed less quickly, and that there is a higher risk of misdiagnosis or incorrect treatment by doctors.[25]

She calls for social initiatives to integrate people with disabilities into society from an early age and to reduce factors contributing to discrimination, such as the segregation of people with disabilities in schools or specialised residential facilities, as also advocated by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[26]

In a series of articles, D'Antuono criticises the way racism and hostility towards the LGBTQ community are dealt with in Italy. She calls for society to engage in self-reflection and to take a critical approach to history.[27][28][29]

Other Topics

Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, D’Antuono advocats for strong and clear support for Ukraine and an acceleration of its EU accession process.[30]

On the recent escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, D’Antuono has called for an immediate ceasefire, recognized signs of potential genocide in Gaza, and stressed the importance of a united and strong European Union in foreign policy.[31]

Personal life

Under the pseudonym Francesca del Mar, D'Antuono wrote several short stories and two books.[32][33] In August 2021, she became the mother of a son.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "The value of listening with Volt Europa's Francesca Romana D'Antuono". DeHavilland. 31 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Primo compleanno Volt Firenze: evento "al femminile"" [Volt Firenze's first birthday: a "female-centric" event]. gonews.it (in Italian). 4 September 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Volt Europa Unveils Bold Vision for Europe and Elects New Leadership". volteuropa.org. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "Francesca Romana D'Antuono, Autore a Tutti Europa ventitrenta" [Francesca Romana D'Antuono, Author at Tutti Europa Twenty-Thirty]. Tutti Europa ventitrenta (in Italian). Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "volt elige un nuevo liderazgo y define su estrategia para obtener 25 escanos en las proximas elecciones europeas de 2024". 18 October 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Volt Europa Unveils Bold Vision for Europe and Elects New Leadership". Volt Europa. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  7. ↑ D'Antuono, Francesca Romana (12 May 2026). "Francesca Romana D'Antuono". Tutti Europa ventitrenta (in Italian). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Il movimento politico paneuropeo presenta i suoi co-presidenti a livello Europa e Italia nell'evento presso la Sala Consiliare Nunes" [The pan-European political movement presents its co-presidents at European and Italian level at the event held at the Nunes Council Chamber]. politicamentecorretto.com. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Volt sbarca in Campania" [Volt lands in Campania]. Corriere Nazionale. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Where we are campaigning". Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "Volt gets 5 pan-European MEPs elected". volteuropa.org. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Volt elects European lead candidates and transnational list". volteuropa.org. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "The EU lacks political will to give asylum seekers decent refuge". EU Observer. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  14. ↑ "5 idee per il prossimo parlamento europeo. #2 Politica migratoria" [5 ideas for the next European Parliament. #2 Migration policy]. Face Magazine (in Italian). 4 February 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  15. ↑ "Albania Project Frozen: Seven Italians Remain". Il Manifesto. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  16. ↑ "The staff managing migrant centers in Albania is leaving". Il Post. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  17. ↑ "5 Ideas for the Next European Parliament: #1 Fiscal Justice". Face Magazine. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  18. ↑ "European minimum wage: A missed opportunity for Italy". Politica. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "The flight of the working class". Politica. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  20. ↑ "Meloni's Useless Budget Lacks Global Perspective". Linkiesta.it. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "When will we start taking climate change seriously?". politicamag.it. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  22. ↑ "Shadows and Lights of Draghi's Report on EU Competitiveness". www.tpi.it. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "Volt's Pan-European Experience Shows Italy is Not a Country for Young Parties". www.editorialedomani.it. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  24. ↑ "D'Antuono (Volt) to TPI: "European elections? We need an electoral reform"". www.tpi.it. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  25. ↑ "Ripartire al femminile - PUBBLICOMNOW". PUBBLICOMNOW (in Italian). 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  26. ↑ D'Antuono, Francesca Romana (20 April 2022). "Disabilità e abilismo nell'Unione Europea, che cosa può (e deve) fare la politica". tuttieuropaventitrenta.eu. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  27. ↑ D'Antuono, Francesca Romana (20 June 2021). "Viola e Asif". tuttieuropaventitrenta.eu. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  28. ↑ "Mirko e Leonel". tuttieuropaventitrenta.eu. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Elisabeth e Eve". tuttieuropaventitrenta.eu. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  30. ↑ "The EU Must Help Ukraine Survive". Linkiesta. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  31. ↑ "Gaza: Hypocrisy Written into the West's Response". Politico.eu. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  32. ↑ gonews.it, stagista (22 July 2019). "Due donne alla guida di Volt Firenze". gonews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  33. ↑ "Un racconto dal nuovo numero di effe". 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  34. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
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