THE HEMINGWAY ALLEGORY

by Altiero Spinelli

SUMMARY: Before voting on the measure confirming the whole Parliament's position on European union, the Assembly hears Spinelli's - unrehearsed - reference to the difficulties of the action undertaken and the obstacles to be encountered on the path ahead.

The Hemingway Allegory marks one of the most intense moments, from the human and political point of view, of the relationship between Spinelli and the European Parliament. In "Speeches in European Parliament, 1976-1986", Pier Virgilio Dastoli editor. (EP, 14 September 1983)

I shall try very briefly to explain, by a parable, the significance of my vote in favour.

You must all know the short story by Hemingway, about an old fisherman who, after catching the biggest fish of his life, tries to get it back to shore. But bit by bit the sharks cat it, so that when the old man returns to shore, all that remains is a fishbone.

Mr. President, with the vote it will take in a few minutes, Parliament will have caught the biggest fish of its life. But it must bring it back into port. So let us be careful, because the sharks will always by there waiting to devour it. Let us try not to return into port with a fishbone.