News of Europe | 9/2023

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Dear Federalists readers,

Welcome to a new edition of News of Europe. This week, elections at the Spanish national parliament and Commissioner Frans Timmermans to run in Dutch elections.
As always, sections and partners of the UEF are invited to contact us to be featured in future newsletters. Send us an email at secretariat@federalist.eu.

Without further ado, your newsletter.

The Netherlands is preparing for general elections, following the fall of Mark Rutte's longstanding government and his subsequent withdrawal from political life. A few candidates already proposed themselves to run the nation, but one stands out. Commissioner Frans Timmermans, Vice-president of the European Commission and father of the EU Green Deal will head the joint labour-green campaign.

Back to Spain. Last week, newly elected MPs elected the country's lower house chair. Socialist Francina Armengol won the vote in what commentators hope is a decisive victory for PSOE's Pedro Sanchez, one that could allow him to keep his position as Prime Minister. 
What about separatists? But it seems that the final decision on whether Sanchez can run a left-leaning coalition government is in Charles Puigdemont's hands. Puigdemont was President of the Generalitat de Catalunya before his exile to Belgium to avoid prosecution over a failed independence attempt. To sway Puigdemont and the MP of his Junts party, Sanchez already asked the EU to accept Basque, Catalan, and Galician (three co-official languages in Spain) as official languages of the Union.

New leadership at the UEF. The Executive Bureau of the UEF appointed Domènec Ruiz Devesa as President, following the departure of Sandro Gozi. Both Members of the European Parliament, Domènec Ruiz Devesa and Sandro Gozi are respectively rapporteurs of the EU electoral law and the composition of the European Parliament after 2024. Domènec Ruiz Devesa, who was Vice-President of the UEF prior to this decision, saluted his predecessor’s achievements: “Sandro Gozi, a true Federalist, did the utmost to improve the UEF and advance its agenda. I know our personal friendship will endure [...]." Read more on our news release.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of News of Europe.
As usual, you can leave a comment at this link.

Federalist regards,

Alexandre Météreau
on behalf of the UEF Secretariat

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