1946-1974 | The UEF from the foundation to the decision on direct election of the European parliament

By Sergio Pistone

PREFACE

The Union of European Federalists was founded in 1946 and is a supranational organisation of men and women who are committed to the struggle for a European federation, intended as the fundamental first step along the road towards world federation. This commitment has so far continued for over sixty years and has always featured the common thread of mobilising the public in favour of popular participation in the construction of European unity. The context within which the UEF is currently carrying out its initiatives is that of transforming of the European Union in a fully federal sense by establishing a Federal European Constitution through entirely democratic methods and excluding all forms of national veto. Familiarity with the history of the UEF and therefore the deep roots and continuity of the struggle for European federation is essential for those who are directly involved in the fight as well as for those who follow it with interest. I thus take great pleasure in acknowledging the release of this book and
I hope that it will meet the favour of many readers.
MERCEDES BRESSO
President of the Union of European Federalists

INDEX

I | FROM THE WORLD WARS TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNION OF EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS
1.1. The collapse of the European system of states, the birth of European unity movements and the first Europeanist government initiatives
1.2. The Resistance and European unity
1.3. The foundation of the UEF

II | THE ACTION OF THE UEF UP UNTIL THE FALL OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE COMMUNITY (1947-1954)
2.1. The beginning of the cold war and the Congress of Montreux
2.2. From the Hague Congress to the Council of Europe
2.3. From the European Defence Community to the European Political Community

III | CRISIS AND SPLIT OF THE UEF IN THE YEARS OF THE BIRTH AND BEGINNINGS OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (1954-1963)
3.1. The relaunching of European integration
3.2. The new course of federalist action launched by Spinelli
3.3. The UEF Split
3.4. The Congress of the European People
3.5. The reapproaching between the supranational European Federalist Movement and the European Federalist Action

IV | THE STRUGGLE FOR THE DEMOCRATISATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE REUNIFICATION OF THE FEDERALISTS (1964-1974)
4.1. The action of the federalists up until De Gaulle’s disappearance from the political scene
4.2. The events marking European integration from the Hague Summit in 1969 to the Paris Summit in December 1974
4.3. The reunification of the federalists
4.4. The federalists obtain the commitment of the governments for the direct election of the European Parliament
4.5. Considerations on the role and nature of the UEF