AFTER MILAN – APRES COUP OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EFP ON THE EUROPEAN FORUM OF FEBRUARY 16^th, 2019

During Saturday, February 16^th, the European Forum of Psychoanalysis Love and Hate for Europe was held in Milan, in the Aula Magna of the University of Studies. It was the third European Forum held in Italy under the auspices of the Movida Zadig, after the initial Forum made at Turin on November 10^th, 2017 about Decided desires of Democracy in Europe and the following event held on this regard, that was held in Rome on February 24^th, 2018 about The foreign. This series of European Forums that have been held in Italy – to which is attached a plenary session on psychoanalysis and politics at the last national congress of the SLP that was held in Bologna in June 2018 – has fulfilled an itinerary throughout the Italian peninsula, itinerary that was drawn by Jacques-Alain Miller at his first founding meeting of Movida Zadig and that has been fulfilled with this last Forum in Milan. The Euro-federation of Psychoanalysis has followed from the forefront the construction and commissioning of the Forum, effectively managed by Marco Focchi and in constant synergy with the Scuola Lacaniana di Psicoanalisi, particularly with the community of Milan, with its members and participants, whom have taken charge in first person of the organization of these events. The Freudian Institute has not failed to support the company. The other European Schools, in turn, have contributed to the good performance of the event, with the participation and presence of their presidents in the works and with the presence of many colleagues from abroad (more than a quarter of the Forum participants). The WAP as well, has followed the Forum project from the beginning, the presence of its president Angelina Harari has embodied its participation in the event. Eric Laurent with his closing remarks on Europe to the test of hatred, has extracted – in a masterful way – the lines of the discourse developed during this journey.

The Milan Forum has not disappointed the expectations of those who have participated; leading to a positive conclusion of the cycle started at Turin. The Italian media have shown interest in the event, giving prominence to it in the most important national newspapers, in primis Il Corriere della Sera. It has been preceded by a rich preparatory debate in which more than 400 people have attended in person to this work. The external guests to the field of psychoanalysis – philosophers, historians, economists, jurists, intellectuals, officials in the context of the European Community policies – have been taken subjectively into the work of the Forum, actively involved in the conversation setted up by us on this occasion. The idea has been to involve the psychoanalysts in a questioning position in such a way that they could interact with the text and the speakers' words in order to achieve an internal dynamic, creating a debate among them, causing a hysterization effect in the discourse in order to extract the outgoing elements. This has produced the effect of making alive the crisis of Europe that we are going through, probing the symptomatic scope and possible drifts, highlighting the impact on collective passions, in a logical time where its political project is not reducible to economic functioning, therefore the importance of being able to question it. After decades of idealization and relative indifference, we are facing a crucial moment for Europe where the real is put to the test.

We now have to think about how to reap the rewards and how to relaunch the work of the series of European Forums developed here – the three Italians, but also the one from Brussels on the Discourses that kill – has allowed us to produce, maintaining heretical our action and making it more incisive in the field of politics.

Milan February 23^rd, 2019

Domenico Cosenza

President of the EFP

Translated by: Isolda Alvarez