main school of thought the most important was Romano Prodi, which he sponsored as a guide for the center-left coalition after the fall of the first Berlusconi government in 1995. Prodi nominated him as defence minister in his first government (May 1996 - October 1998 ), where Andreatta made a number of significant proposals: the reform of the General Staff, the 'abolition of conscription, the reform of the civil service. He launched Operazione Alba (a peacekeeping and humanitarian aid mission to Albania entirely managed by European forces) and proposed ideas to build and organize a European defence forces. After the fall of the Prodi government in 1998, he founded "Charter 14 June", an association which aimed to broaden the basis of democratic consensus and to reduce the power of parties. During the election campaign for the European elections of 1999, he supported an alliance between the PPI and the Democrats. Death On December 15, 1999, during a parliamentary session for the vote of the budget, he had a serious heart attack and ended up in a coma. Andreatta suffered from cerebral hypoxia for twenty minutes, incurring permanent damage. On 1 January 2000 he was transferred on board a military transport from St. James to St. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital of Bologna. Andreatta until his death never regained consciousness, dying after more than seven years on 26 March 2007 in the intensive care unit of the Policlinico S. Orsola Bologna. Andreatta's son Filippo, professor at the University of Bologna, writes for several Italian newspapers and has been a supporter of the Democratic Party of Italy, an idea also pursued by his father in his last years. His daughter Eleonora, nicknamed Tinny, is a senior executive at Rai and, in 2012, was appointed the director of Rai Fiction. Bibliography N. Andreatta, Per un'Italia moderna. Questioni di politica e di economia, Il Mulino, Bologna 2002. References External links A.R.E.L. website |- |- |- |- 1928 births 2007 deaths People from Trento Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Italian People's Party (1994) politicians Foreign ministers of Italy Italian Ministers of Defence Senators of Legislature VII of Italy Senators of Legislature VIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of Italy Senators of Legislature X of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Politicians of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Christian Democracy (Italy) MEPs European People's Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 1984–1989 Italian economists Università Cattolica del