Background In the
2013 general election Calenda, who had been active within
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo's
Future Italy, was an unsuccessful candidate for the centrist
Civic Choice (SC) party. He later served in various capacities (deputy minister, ambassador and minister) in the three governments of the
2013–2018 legislative term. In the aftermath of the
2018 general election, he officially joined the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD).
We Are Europeans In January 2019, Calenda launched a political manifesto named
We Are Europeans (), with the aim of creating a joint list composed of the PD and other
progressive and
pro-Europeanist parties for the upcoming
European Parliament election. His proposal was welcomed by
Nicola Zingaretti, then leader of the PD, but rejected by other parties within the
centre-left coalition, including
More Europe (+E) and
Italia in Comune. In the run-up to the election, Zingaretti and Calenda presented a logo for their joint electoral list including a reference to We Are Europeans and the symbol of the
Party of European Socialists. Additionally, they also joined with
Article One, a left-wing party established in 2017 by splinters from the PD, led by former PD secretary
Pier Luigi Bersani. The PD–SE joint list gained 22.7% of the vote, coming second after the
League. Calenda, who ran in the
North-East constituency, received more than 270,000 votes, thus becoming the most voted candidate of the list, and joined the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group. In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting the
first government of
Giuseppe Conte, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence by the League. During the following
government crisis, the PD national board officially endorsed the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the
Five Star Movement (M5S), based on
pro-Europeanism,
green economy,
sustainable development, fight against
economic inequality and a new immigration policy. The party also agreed to keep Conte as the head of the new government, and on 29 August, President
Sergio Mattarella re-appointed Conte as Prime Minister, this time at the head of a centre-left coalition. Calenda strongly opposed the new government, stating that the PD had renounced any representation of the "
reformists", and that therefore it became necessary to establish a "liberal-progressive" movement. Calenda left the PD and on 5 September 2019, while Conte's
second government was sworn in, announced the transformation of SE into a full-fledged party. On 10 September 2019,
Matteo Richetti, a prominent PD senator with a
Catholic political upbringing and a close associate of former Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi, abstained in the vote of confidence on the new government, and subsequently exited the party. He stated that he would join forces with Calenda.
Road to the new party in 2019 In November 2019, SE was officially transformed into a new party named
Action (), which was organised also at the local level through the so-called "Action Groups" (). Calenda explained Action's "reformist" nature, while Richetti that "Action would not be a centrist party, but the true progressive pole of the country". Early donors of the party included
Alberto Bombassei and
Luciano Cimmino, both former MPs elected with SC. Early members of the party included
Raffaele Bonanni (former secretary-general of the
Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions),
Vincenzo Camporini (former
Chief of the Defence Staff),
Mario Raffaelli (former long-time deputy and under-secretary for the
Italian Socialist Party),
Walter Ricciardi (former president of the
Istituto Superiore di Sanità) and
Ugo Rossi (former
President of Trentino). In August 2020, two members of the
Chamber of Deputies joined Action: former minister
Enrico Costa, who had earlier left
Forza Italia (FI) and a long-time advocate of reforms of the judiciary, and
Nunzio Angiola, university professor and former member of the M5S. In November 2020, deputies and senators affiliated with Action formed joint sub-groups in the
Mixed Groups together with +E both in the Chamber and in the Senate. The sub-group in the Chamber counted four deputies, the one in the Senate three senators. In March 2021,
Carlo Cottarelli, a former director of the
International Monetary Fund, was chosen by A, +E, the
Italian Republican Party (PRI), the
Liberal Democratic Alliance for Italy (ALI) and
The Liberals to head of a scientific committee designed to elaborate of a joint political program. In the
2021 municipal election in
Rome, Calenda came third with 19.8% of the vote and the "Calenda for Mayor" list, comprising A, +E, PRI,
IV and other minor liberal and centrist groups, won 19.1% of the vote, becoming the most voted list, ahead of the PD (whose candidate,
Roberto Gualtieri, had launched a parallel "Gualtieri for Mayor" list and was elected at in the run-off). In November 2021, Calenda left the S&D group in the European Parliament, after that it was hinted that the M5S might have joined it, and switched to
Renew Europe. In January 2022, the party formed a federation with +E.
Founding congress On 19–20 February 2022, the party held its first congress, during which Calenda was elected secretary, Richetti president,
Emma Fattorini (a former senator of the PD) and
Giulia Pastorella vice presidents. Calenda explained that Action would dialogue with all main parties, except the M5S and the
Brothers of Italy (FdI), whose leaders were not invited to participate in the congress. A few days before the congress,
Barbara Masini had switched from FI. In the coming weeks, senator
Leonardo Grimani (ex-PD and ex-IV) and deputies
Claudio Pedrazzini,
Osvaldo Napoli and
Daniela Ruffino (all three ex-FI and ex-
Cambiamo!) and
Giorgio Trizzino (ex-M5S) joined the party.
2022 general election In July 2022, the M5S did not participate in a Senate's confidence vote on a government bill. Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Mattarella. After a few days, Draghi sought a confidence vote again to secure the government majority supporting his cabinet, while rejecting the proposal put forward by Lega and FI of a new government without the M5S. In that occasion, the M5S, Lega, FI and FdI did not participate in the vote. Consequently, Draghi tendered his final resignation to President Mattarella, who dissolved the houses of Parliament, leading to the
2022 general election. Calenda, who also had favoured a Draghi government without the M5S, was very critical of Lega and FI. In the aftermath of Draghi's resignation, senator
Andrea Cangini switched from FI to Action. In the event, Calenda hoped that also other leading dissidents of FI, including ministers
Mariastella Gelmini and
Mara Carfagna, could soon join the party. After Calenda's call, both Gelmini and Carfagna signalled that they would do so and were formally welcomed in the party during a press conference with Calenda. Contextually, other deputies followed the two ministers out of FI and joined Action. In early August, Az/+E formed a political pact with the PD, that would give three candidates in single-seat constituencies to Az/+E for every seven candidates given to the PD. Less than a week later, Calenda announced that he was walking away from the pact because of the parallel alliances that the PD had signed with the
Greens and Left Alliance (formed by
Green Europe and
Italian Left) and
Civic Commitment (led by
Luigi Di Maio and
Bruno Tabacci). Calenda's decision caused the break-up of the federation with +E, as the latter's leaders wanted to continue their alliance with the PD. Finally, Action formed a joint electoral list with
Matteo Renzi's
Italia Viva (IV). The joint list obtained 7.8% of the vote. In the aftermath of the election, during a national assembly in Naples, the party elected Carafagna as president with 84% of the delegates' vote, replacing Richetti, who had become the leader in the Chamber of Deputies. The party also approved a path toward a stable federation with IV with 93% of the vote. After the election, Renzi frequently clashed with Calenda, leaving the alliance's future uncertain. In September 2023, Renzi announced that IV would run in the
2024 European Parliament election within a brand new coalition/list named "The Centre". This led former minister
Elena Bonetti to leave the party in order to seek an alternative alliance with Action. Also
Ettore Rosato, another IV leading member, was critical and seemed interested in joining Action, but, before leaving the party, he was expelled by Renzi. Subsequently, Bonetti and Rosato launched
Populars Europeanists Reformers (PER). The pair finally joined Action in January 2024, with Bonetti becoming vice president and Rosato deputy secretary. Also in January, MP
Federica Onori and MEP
Fabio Massimo Castaldo switched from the M5S to Action. In October 2023, having recently exited the
European Democratic Party, Action joined the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) as a full member. In March 2024 Action formed a federative pact with the
Italian Republican Party (PRI). Subsequently, Action formed an alliance also with the
European Republicans Movement (MRE).
2024 EP election In the run-up of the 2024 European Parliament election, Action presented its "We are Europeans – Action" list. This list is composed of eight other parties or groups: NOS, PER, PRI, MRE, Liberal Socialist Association (LS), Liberal Democracy (DL), Reform Popular Civic Platform (PCPR) and
Team K. Contextually, Italia Viva, More Europe, the
Italian Socialist Party, the
Italian Radicals, the
European Liberal Democrats and
L'Italia c'è formed an alternative liberal and pro-Europeanist list named "
United States of Europe". As a result, a minority of More Europe, including its president
Federico Pizzarotti, left the party, joined Action and will run in the election. Calenda and Bonetti will stand as candidates in all five constituencies. In the run-up of three
regional elections scheduled in the fall of 2024, Calenda aligned the party with the centre-left. This caused the exit of four senior centre-right figures, namely president Carfagna, deputy secretaries Costa and Gelmini, as well as
Giusy Versace. The first two were sitting deputies and the other two sitting senators, as a result the party was reduced to 10 deputies and two senators. Costa re-joined FI, while the other three joined
Us Moderates. In the run-up to the party's
second congress, to be held in March 2025, Calenda was re-elected with 85.8% of the vote by party members. Calenda was challenged by outgoing vice president Pastorella, who was not able to field her candidacy all over the country and was particularly strong in northern Italy. During the congress, which saw the participation of leading politicians from left and right, including Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni, Minister of Defense
Guido Crosetto and former EU Commissioner
Paolo Gentiloni, Calenda was proclaimed secretary again and Bonetti was elected president by acclamation. Calenda proposed a transversal alliance between his party, FI, sectors of the PD and some centrist parties. In the
2025 regional elections the party did not run as a party, but individual members were elected from centrist joint lists in
Aosta Valley and
Veneto. In February 2026
Elisabetta Gualmini MEP left the PD and joined Action, giving it representation in the European Parliament. ==Election results==