III Supranational MFE Congress
The document of this Congress are saved here LINK.
Held together with the Fifth Session of the Congress of the European People.
Congress report
The Lyon Congress marked an important stage in the transformation of the European Federalist Movement into a more unified supranational political organization. Its central task was to define the Movement’s strategy for the following two years in response to the “Europe of Fatherlands,” the crisis of national democracy and the limitations of purely economic integration.
The first session was chaired by Lazzaro de Bernardis, vice-president of the MFE. A Steering Committee chaired by Michel Mouskhély was appointed, together with the Credentials Commission. Pierre Lucion’s financial report was unanimously approved, while Secretary-General André Delmas’s moral and activity report was adopted after an extensive debate.
President Enzo Giacchero was absent from the ceremonial opening, and Vice-President Alexandre Marc spoke in his place. Other speakers included Lyon mayor Louis Pradel, Étienne Hirsch, Michel Mouskhély and representatives of the European organizations.
The political debate was based principally on reports by Mario Albertini, Germain Desboeuf and Altiero Spinelli, followed by Henri Mallet’s proposal for an MFE Political Charter, Guy Plantier’s appeal to European youth and André Thiery’s report on European economic policy.
The three principal positions favoured, respectively, continued pressure on governments, a period of political clarification and preparation, or the MFE’s transformation into a force directly engaged in democratic political struggles. The final compromise largely accepted the idea of the MFE as an autonomous supranational political force, led by an effective political team and equipped with a political, economic and social Charter.
On Saturday the delegates met in political, economic and organizational commissions. On Sunday the Congress debated and voted on their conclusions and elected the statutory bodies.
The general political resolution was adopted by:
- 273 votes in favour;
- 61 against;
- 119 abstentions.
The Congress also approved the administrative merger of the MFE and the Congress of the European People, placing their activities under the MFE Central Committee. It confirmed the earlier decision to separate from the European Movement.
Political resolutions and motions
1. General political resolution
The resolution:
- identified the contradiction between growing international interdependence and claims to absolute national sovereignty;
- opposed a federal “Europe of the People, by the People and for the People” to both the “Europe of Fatherlands” and the “Europe of Business”;
- rejected both communism and authoritarian capitalism;
- condemned attempts by individual European states to acquire national nuclear forces;
- demanded a European constituent assembly elected by universal suffrage;
- argued that German reunification, economic planning, regional development, Algeria and aid to developing countries could not be solved nationally;
- defined the MFE as an autonomous European federalist political force;
- called for a stronger political leadership and a political, economic and social Charter;
- retained the CPE as the federalists’ principal instrument of action.
PDF pages 115–117.
2. Organizational unification of the MFE and CPE
The Congress accepted the administrative merger of the two organizations and placed their activities under the MFE Central Committee. It called for the continuation of the CPE primary elections, the establishment of new MFE groups and regions, and better coordination of the federalist press.
PDF pages 119–120.
3. France, Algeria, fascism and communism
The resolution condemned OAS terrorism and the danger of fascism; supported participation in anti-fascist demonstrations; connected the defence of democracy with European federal institutions; condemned Soviet domination and communist totalitarianism; and criticized the Italian government’s treatment of South Tyrolean aspirations.
PDF page 122.
4. Decazeville miners
The Congress expressed solidarity with the Decazeville miners and argued that industrial conversion and the development of economically disadvantaged regions had to be addressed at European level.
PDF page 121.
5. Economic resolution
The resolution called for democratic and decentralized planning, regional development, protection for workers affected by industrial conversion, participation by labour organizations, agreements with developing countries, and a European currency supported by a federal issuing bank and European credit authority.
PDF pages 123–124.
6. Relations with the European Movement
The Congress confirmed the Central Committee’s decision of 1 July 1961 concerning the MFE’s separation from the European Movement, while allowing the new Committee to reconsider the matter if circumstances changed.
PDF page 125.
7. Francoist Spain
A separate motion opposed the admission of Franco’s Spain to the Common Market.
8. Eastern Europe
A motion submitted by Croatian, Serbian and Bulgarian federalists expressed solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Eastern Europe. It argued that a European Federation could expose the internal contradictions of the Soviet bloc and encourage liberalization.
Members elected to the Central Committee
Full members
| Member | Votes |
|---|---|
| Mario Albertini | 307 |
| Jean-Pierre Gouzy | 304 |
| Guy Héraud | 289 |
| André Delmas | 266 |
| Raymond Rifflet | 265 |
| Alberto Cabella | 262 |
| Henri Mallet | 252 |
| Arrigo Olivetti | 247 |
| Alexandre Marc | 234 |
| André Darteil | 230 |
| P.-J.-G. Houx | 217 |
| André Thiery | 207 |
| Wilfried Halberstadt | 201 |
| Altiero Spinelli | 196 |
| Andrea Chiti-Batelli | 188 |
| Germain Desboeuf | 181 |
Maurice Orban initially obtained 213 votes and was elected both as a full member and as an alternate. He chose the alternate position, making Germain Desboeuf the sixteenth full member.
Alternate members
| Member | Votes |
|---|---|
| Guy Plantier | 252 |
| Mario Da Milano | 229 |
| Maurice Orban | 203 |
| Dragas Keseljevic | 178 |
| Denise Nicodème | 175 |
| Pierre Moriquand | 164 |
| Gisèle Bernadou | 155 |
| Willy Muller | 136 |
PDF pages 67–68.
Official programme
Friday, 9 February
9:00 a.m.
- Opening of the Congress offices.
- Distribution of credentials and documents.
10:00 a.m.
- Appointment of the Steering Committee, Credentials Commission and session chair.
- Financial report by Pierre Lucion.
- Report of the Control Commission.
- MFE activity report by André Delmas.
- Discussion.
2:30 p.m.
- Ceremonial opening.
- Address scheduled for the president of the MFE Central Committee, delivered in practice by Alexandre Marc.
- Addresses by the president of the CPE, the Organizing Committee, the mayor of Lyon and representatives of the European Communities.
- Opening of the general political debate.
- Introduction by Michel Mouskhély.
- Reports by Albertini, Desboeuf and Spinelli.
- Henri Mallet’s presentation on an MFE Political Charter.
- Guy Plantier’s appeal to European youth.
- General discussion.
6:45 p.m.
- Reception at Lyon City Hall.
9:00 p.m.
- P.-J.-G. Houx’s report on CPE activities.
- Financial report by Amedeo Mortara.
- Discussion.
Saturday, 10 February
9:30 a.m.
- Continuation of the political debate.
- André Thiery’s report on European economic policy.
- General discussion.
2:30 p.m.
- Political Commission.
- Economic Commission.
- Organizational Commission.
- Evening continuation where necessary.
Sunday, 11 February
10:00 a.m.
- Plenary discussion of the commissions’ conclusions.
- Voting on resolutions.
- Election of statutory bodies.
2:30 p.m.
- Announcement of the results.
- Appointment of national members of the Central Committee by the respective delegations.
- Closing address.
PDF pages 8–9 and 28–29.
Address on behalf of the MFE presidency
President Enzo Giacchero was absent and therefore did not deliver the scheduled address. Vice-President Alexandre Marc spoke in his place.
Marc defined the purpose of the Congress as restoring the federalists’ sense of effective political struggle. The MFE had to develop doctrinally, organizationally and politically. European federation was presented as the response of twentieth-century humanity to the technical, economic and social challenges of modern civilization.
The Movement could not remain a small ideological circle. It had to engage with social forces, technology, the economy and the concrete crisis of democracy. European unity therefore had to become a political struggle capable of mobilizing the European people against nationalism and the “Europe of Fatherlands.”
PDF pages 23 and 146.
Report by Secretary-General André Delmas
The dossier does not contain the complete text of Delmas’s address. It preserves the minutes of its presentation, its conclusion and several contemporary references.
Delmas’s moral and activity report was approved after an extensive discussion. Its central claim was that the MFE remained the only organization consistently and independently defending a genuine European federation, while many other European projects continued to preserve the supremacy of the nation-state.
The report emphasized:
- the MFE’s political autonomy;
- moving beyond simple pressure on national governments;
- strengthening its supranational organization;
- establishing new groups and regions;
- coordinating the federalist press;
- integrating the CPE within the MFE;
- preparing a Political Charter;
- building a force capable of acting during future crises of the nation-state system.
Delmas also supported confirmation of the separation from the European Movement. The report’s underlying conclusion was that, without the MFE, Europe would lack an organized force prepared to challenge national sovereignty openly in the name of federation.
PDF pages 22, 119–120, 125 and 135.