60 years of the UEF

MESSAGE by Mercedes BRESSO, UEF President

In Paris on December 15th 1946, the Union of European Federalists was born. This was just a few days after the foundation of the German “Europa Union”, which was to become one of the main national sections of the UEF. Sixty years later our struggle continues, because the fundamental objective of the UEF, the creation of a European federation, which was also indicated in the Schuman Declaration of May 9th 1950, has not yet been achieved. The march towards a European federation has reached a milestone in the achievement of the signing of the European Constitution by the governments of the European Union on 29 October 2004 in Rome. Its ratification would constitute a significant step towards our final objective, but it has been blocked by negative outcomes in the referendums held in France and the Netherlands, although the majority of the states and the population of the EU have ratified the proposed constitution. The fundamental obstacle to overcome is the principle of unanimous decision making, i.e. the national right of veto, which has made any significant progress towards European unification impossible, and threatens to lead towards disintegration and impotency.

Other contents

• FOREWORD by Friedhelm FRISCHENSCHLAGER
• 60 YEARS OF UEF, Sergio PISTONE
• THE BIRTH OF THE UEF, Jean-Pierre GOUZY