 Roberto Formigoni began his political career early in Christian Democracy, through youth movements such as "Gioventù Studentesca" and Communion and Liberation (of which he became the unofficial political spokesman).In 1976, he founded the Popular Movement and was elected a deputy in both the European Parliament (with over 450,000 votes) and Parliament of Italy.He was also the Vice-President of the European Parliament for five years and served as under-secretary for the Environment in the Italian government.