UEF News 2003

12 February 2003

The Praesidium’s Draft of Articles 1 to 16 of the Constitutional Treaty : An insufficient proposal which does not faithfully reflect the consensus within the European Convention

The Bureau  of the  Union of  European  Federalists  (UEF)  welcomes the  presentation by the Convention Praesidium of the draft of first articles of the Constitutional Treaty. The debate on the  future  political  direction of  the  European  Union  will  now  become  more concrete.  The draft can serve as a basis for further progress towards a federal Constitution but is currently not sufficient for meeting the challenges of an enlarged EU in a globalized world.

In its Article 1, the draft Constitution instead of basing itself on the will of the peoples and the States of Europe, only very weakly “reflects” this will. This formula reveals the resistance to the idea of going from a Union of States to a Union of Citizens. Furthermore “to administer certain common  competences  on  a  federal  basis”  is insufficient.  All common  competences should be  governed on  the  basis  of  the  federal  method including  co-legislation of  the European Parliament and the Council, majority voting within the Council and the European Commission acting as the Government of the Union.

In order to underline that the main purpose of the  federal Union is to serve the citizens, the Charter of Fundamental Rights should be fully incorporated into the Constitution or even head  it.  It  should not  be  relegated  to  the  second part  or  to  a  protocol  annexed  to  the Constitution.

Provisions on Union’s competences show a vision which is still too intergovernmental. The Union’s competence  order  proposed by the  draft  articles  should  be  further  clarified and the Union’s competences should be strengthened : · Not  only  Common  commercial policy  but  External  economic  policy  must  be  an exclusive  Union’s  competences with  representation  in  WTO,  IMF  and other international institutions; 

· The  Constitution  should  contain  a  clear  EU  competence  for  Common  Foreign, Security and  Defence  Policy,  which  should become  an  exclusive  Union’s competence after a transitional period, as with the provisions in the Maastricht Treaty for the Monetary Union.

The UEF expects that the drafting work of the Convention Praesidium in future better to  respect the consensus  emerging  from  the  Convention plenary  debates.  The Convention’s institutional debate at the end of January overwhelmingly supported the idea of an  election  of the Commission  President  by  the  European  Parliament.  The  upcoming  draft articles on European institutions must reflect this consensus.

26 March 2003

The Convention's Draft: a blueprint for a citizens' Europe?

300 people attended the public debate organised by the UEF in cooperation with its local sections of UEF Belgium and UEF Groupe Europe. Due to strict security rules in the European Parliament during the Irak war, the UEF had to refuse the last inscriptions.

The following members of the European Convention participated in the panel discussion chaired by the UEF President Jo LEINEN: Mr Klaus HÄNSCH, Member of the European Parliament and Member of the Praesidium of the Convention; Mr Alojz PETERLE, Representative of the Slovene Parliament and guest representing the candidate countries in the Praesidium; Mrs Claude DU GRANRUT, Member of the EU Committee of the Regions and Observer at the European Convention. Mr Michel BARNIER, Member of the European Commission and Member of the Praesidium was at the last minute represented by his Head of Cabinet, Mrs. Christine ROGER.

The answers to the question "The Convention'Draft :  A Blueprint for a Citizens'Europe ?"  were rather optimistic.

Introducing the topic, Jo LEINEN outlined the progress of the Campaign for a European Constitution which federalists launched 6 years ago and expressed the hope that the Convention would propose strong institutions to transform the EU into a democratic, efficient and transparent entity that will bring the Union closer to its citizens.

Claude DU GRANRUT pointed out that the problems of the institutions and of the security and defence policy were not yet solved. She feared that the national parliaments would pretend to represent the voice of the citizens at European level. Furthermore, she was worried that the IGC would reverse the improvements made by the Convention towards a citizens' Europe.

Klaus HÄNSCH underlined that time must be given to the citizens to feel "at home" in a united Europe and to share their common destiny with other Europeans. He was in favour of majority voting in the Council, including on military matters, and hoped that the Convention would not be divided, but propose solutions for the whole of Europe.

Alojz PETERLE was convinced that if the peoples' will were respected, the EU would speak with one voice.

Christine ROGER welcomed the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as a way to enrich EU citizenship. She stressed that beyond the constitutional text a qualitative democracy should be effectively put into practice.

21 May 2003

European federalists and the current play in the Convention

The Federal Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) chaired by Jo LEINEN, MEP, met last weekend in the European Academy Otzenhausen (Saarland). After a exchange of views with the alternate Representative of the Luxembourg government to the Convention, Ambassador  Nicolas  Schmit,  and  a  political  debate  involving  federalist  delegates  from  15 European  countries,  the  UEF  Federal  Committee adopted  a  resolution  which  among  other points (full resolution in annex) :

- regrets  that  the  Convention has  failed  so  far  to draft  a  fully-fledged  federal Constitution  to  make  the  Union  more  democratic and  capable  of  effective  action, able to face the challenges of enlargement and of the new world disorder; 

- regrets that  different mechanisms  and  procedures are  maintained  for  some  policy areas leaving key fields of Union activity largely intergovernmental; - welcomes  the  proposal  to  let the  European  Parliament  elect the Commission president by  simple  majority,  but  insists  that  the  political  process  of  selecting  a candidate to this post should go through the European Parliament creating an explicit linkage between the  results of the European elections and the choice of Commission president  and  thus  providing  the  Commission  with  the  democratic  legitimacy necessary to make it the government of the Union in all areas;

- condemns the creation of the post of permanent chair of the European Council and, in  the  name  of  democracy,  simplicity,  efficiency  and  transparency,  rejects  the proposals to  create  such  a  post  which  would mean trusting the “governance”  of the Union in most crucial areas to the European Council and its Chair, which are unable to represent  the  European  interest  as a  whole  and have  no  European  democratic accountability to the European Parliament and so the European citizens;

- insists that the European Parliament should have full powers of co-decision with the Council on all legislation and on all parts of the budget;

- demands  that  for  all  non-military  aspects  of  Foreign  and Security  policy the executive  power  should  lie  with  the  Commission,  decisions  should  by  taken by qualified majority in the Council and an effective democratic control by the European Parliament must be guaranteed;

- demands  that  the  EU  should  acquire  – like every other  level  of  public  power  – a taxation power to  become  independent  from  the  blackmail  by  individual  member states that has often been witnessed during talks on the long-term financial perspective of the EU; - demands that the veto of a single member state or a small group of member states for future amendments to the constitution must be abolished.

In  a  second  resolution  entitled “Reconnecting Europe with its citizens”, the UEF   declares that  if  the  Convention drafts  a  true  European  Constitution,  it  should be  submitted  to  a Europe-wide vote simultaneously with the elections  to  the European Parliament on 10-13  June  2004.  “Such  a  vote  would allow  a  true  European debate  on  the  merits  of  the Constitution” declared Jo LEINEN.

Contact: Bruno BOISSIERE, UEF European Secretary-General, Tel.: +32-2.508 30 32

The  Union of  European  Federalists  (UEF)  is  an  independent,  non-governmental,  and  supranational organisation dedicated to the promotion of a federal Europe. President :  Jo LEINEN, MEP

6 June 2003

European Constitutional Debate in Switzerland

On 3-5 June, 2003 four sections of the New Swiss European Movement (NOMES / NEBS), the Swiss UEF constituent organisation, with the support of UEF supranational and in cooperation with the European Institutes of the local universities, organised 4 panel discussions on the Convention and the future of Europe in Zurich.

Swiss experts from the political class and universities as well as European guests, including Fernand HERMAN (UEF Bureau member and President of UEF-Belgium) and Ferdinand KINSKY (Vice-President of CIFE) participated in these panel discussions.

For many participants, the current European constitutional process showed similarities with the Swiss federal Constitution of 1848. Non-Swiss guests were delighted that the debate on the future of Europe was happening in Switzerland. A follow-up panel debate with Convention members is expected to take place in Bern in autumn.

17 June 2003

An important step towards a Europe of Citizens – But more is needed!

The Union of European Federalists  (UEF), a supranational organisation presided over by Jo LEINEN MEP, welcomes the compromise  proposal  of the Convention as an important step towards  a more  democratic,  transparent  and  effective European  Union.  In our  eyes the election of the Commission President by the European Parliament, the integration of the EU Charter  of fundamental rights and the creation  of a strong EU Foreign Minister are the most important achievements.

But in other fields the Convention failed to come up with courageous proposals necessary to meet the challenges  of  enlargement  and globalisation.  The  UEF  criticizes in particular that there are still fields of EU decision-making that are not subject to co-decision of the European Parliament,  and  that  unanimity  within  the  Council  is  retained  in  such key  areas  as  EU Foreign and security policy. The principle of unanimity in a Union of 25 States undermines the democratic principle and weakens the capacity of the EU to act effectively. 

UEF  appeals  to  the  Convention  to  repair  the  current  deficiencies  of  the  Constitution  in  its July session and propose to extent qualified majority voting to all EU decisions.

The UEF criticizes the retention of the unanimity rule for the adoption and revision of the Constitution. The right of any single state to veto constitutional changes must be abandoned. The Constitution must formally enter into force when it has been ratified by a big majority of member states.

Some of the reforms can and should already be introduced in the year 2004, before the formal entry into force. The European elections in June 2004 must be transformed into elections for the Parliament AND the Commission, i.e. the European Government. The first EU Minister of  Foreign  Affairs  must  start  together  with  the  new  Commission  in  November  2004.  The Charter of Fundamental Rights should be a point of reference for the Court of Justice. And the  members states  willing  to  intensify  their  cooperation  in  specific  policy fields,  e.g. Common  Foreign,  Security and  Defence  policy,  should immediately  build up  efficient cooperation structures.

After the entry into force of the Constitution the new facility of “the people’s initiative” might be used to promote further reforms of the EU architecture. A  new  Convention should  come  together  5 years  after  the entry  into  force  of  the Constitution to further strengthen the democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the EU.

24 June 2003

The future of the EU

On June 19-22, 2003 about 70 young and older participants from 10, both future and current, EU member states participated in the seminar that had been organised by Europe-House Marienberg in cooperation with UEF supranational. About 25 of them were members of the UEF and its constituent organisations, in particular 'Europa-Union Deutschland' and UEF-Czech Republic.

The focus of the seminar was the work of the Convention and the final draft constitution presented by President Giscard d'ESTAING on Friday, 13 June 2003.

The speakers, among them Prof.Dr.BUSSMANN (member of the Council of the Europe-House), Fernand HERMAN (President of UEF-Belgium), Bruno BOISSIERE (Secretary-General of UEF supranational), Dr.Otto SCHMUCK (chair of the working group on the Convention of 'Europa-Union'), Ivo KAPLAN (Secretary-General of UEF-Czech Republic) and Richard LAMING (Secretary-General of the Federal Union / UK) and the participants in the working groups, discussing in detail the new draft, underlined the progress it constituted in comparison with the present Treaties and the Nice Treaties, in particular the strengthening of the EP through its election of the President of the Commission and the extension of co-decision, a clearer hierarchy of competences and the introduction of the possibility of at least 1 Million citizens submitting proposals for legal acts to the Commission.

At the same time it was emphasised that much more needed to be done in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, that there should be no veto right for member states for future changes to the Constitution and that the role of the new President of the European Council should be limited to representative and coordinating functions. Despite these deficits the participants expressed their hope that the Heads of States and Governments would refrain from making changes to the proposed Constitution.

Due to the success of the seminar and the excellent opportunity it constitutes for 'inter-European' discussions between a wide range of participants, it was decided that a similar seminar would take place before the summer holidays in 2004.

9 July 2003

Federalist's last call before conclusion of the convention. Majority voting should be included for the future amendments to the European constitution

Members of the European Convention have their last chance to make amendments to the draft Constitution today. They  have achieved much in the last  sixteen months,  but there is  still a crucial  thing to be done.  

This  draft  Constitution  is  surely  not the  final  word  on  the  democratic  unification  of Europe. There will be further stages in the process along the way to improve the governance of  the  Union  and  to  strengthen  its  foreign  and  security  policy.  So  amendments  to  the Constitution will have to be made anyway.

Future constitutional  amendments in  a  Union  of  25 or  more  member  states  will  be almost impossible if they depend on unanimity. Even if the proposed amendments themselves are uncontroversial, the  opportunity to  cast a  veto  can be misused to  achieve  other  ends, to the detriment of the democracy and efficiency of the Union as a whole.

Therefore  UEF  asks  members  of  the  Convention  to  support  majority voting  for future amendments to the European Constitution. Perhaps the majority needs to be larger for such amendments  than  for  normal  legislation,  but  establishing  the  principle  of  majority voting rather  than unanimity  - also  in  the constitutional  amendment  procedure  - is  a democratic necessity.

The  interests  of  the  member  states  and  their  citizens  are  best  served by  shared democracy rather than national blackmails with the threat of veto.

7 September 2003

International Seminar: Federalism from Europea to the World

During one week, August 31 - September 5, 2003, the international seminar in Ventotene, Italy, was organised by the 'Altiero Spinelli' Institute for Federalist Studies and JEF-Italy. 50 'official' international, mostly JEF, participants and close to 20 JEF and UEF federalist 'tourists' (who had come on their own terms to freely combine the pleasures of the 'federalist paradise' with the opportunity to discuss federalism) had found their way to the island to continue the path laid out by Altiero SPINELLI whose daughter, Barbara SPINELLI, attended the seminar for the first time.

 A moving ceremony at the grave of Altiero SPINELLI' gave a historical dimension to the seminar. The prominence of the seminar was illustrated by the considerable media coverage it received by the Italian media, including from the national news on the TV station RAI 2 (right after a reportage about the situation in Iraq!) and several important Italian Newspapers, such as La Stampa.

On the occasion of the seminar's 20th anniversary, the competent speakers  (among them UEF Bureau members Alfonso IOZZO, Marc-Oliver PAHL and Richard LAMING and UEF FC members Giovanni BIAVA, Paola DE ANGELIS, Jan KREUTZ, Lucio LEVI, Alberto MAJOCCHI and Jon WORTH and UEF Secretary-General Bruno BOISSIERE), and enthusiastic participants discussed issues, such as the challenges of globalisation, popular identification with the EU and necessary federalist actions.

All participants agreed that globalisation necessitated European regional unity based on federal institutions. The main task of a federal Europe would be to counteract the dominance of the USA and work for a democratisation and federalisation of international politics. Enlargement of the EU was seen to be part of the European 'mission' and moral obligation to unify the continent to promote welfare, democracy and peace in the world. However, during the discussion with Tommaso PADOA-SCHIOPPA, a Member of the Board of the European Central Bank, the question whether globalisation would 'pre-empt' subsidiarity by making necessary the concentration of more and more competences at the European level in order to resist external pressures and to compete on the global market was hotly debated.

European integration was furthermore linked to the issues of citizenship and identity that were regarded as imperative for the participation in and identification of Europeans with the EU. At the same time, however, everyone agreed that the concepts of citizenship should be distinguished from 'nationality'. European citizenship should not be accompanied by the creation of a European nation-state based on a homogeneous cultural identity, on the contrary. European identity would exist alongside, not instead of, other identities. Since the European Union would become the first federation of nation-states, that is, of states where national cultures were formed and still predominate, only a model of identity based on universal values and the dedication to common political values embodied in a common constitution would be viable. There was, however, no agreement whether a common identity without feelings of cultural belonging-together could exist.

Finally, the two main tasks for the next months were outlined: getting the draft Constitution unchanged through the IGC and informing the European public about its content and merits and mobilizing citizens and parties for the European elections.

The outcome of tasks and important events will surely form the main topics at next year's seminar!

8 October 2003

The Intergovernemental Conference: What Risk for the European Constitution?

The debate, organised by the Union of European Federalists in cooperation with UEF-Belgium and UEF-Group Europe only a few days after the official opening of the IGC in Rome, caught a lot of attention. More than 300 people of all age groups attended it.

Among speakers were Mr Inigo MENDEZ DE VIGO, MEP and representative of the European Parliament to the IGC, Mr Michel BARNIER, Member of the European Commission, Mr Daniel KROUPA, Observer at the European Parliament and Member of the Czech Senate, and Mr John PALMER, Political Director of the European Policy Centre. Mr Jo LEINEN, MEP and President of UEF chaired the debate.

The speakers addressed several questions:

• - Should the IGC change the draft Treaty?
• - What this would mean for the EU's policies?
• - Will the IGC work be an improvement or rather a step backwards?
• - What decision should the IGC take on the ratification process?
• - Should the Constitution be ratified by unanimity?

The speakers agree that there is a risk for the draft Constitution in its current shape. Mr DE VIGO stresses that the draft Treaty was designed in a way that left no space for options, to avoid the risk that the IGC interfere in the text. However, as the amendments are very likely to occur, according to his words - there is a serious risk for the draft Constitution in its current shape. Mr BARNIER sees the risk in the fact that the IGC may try to diminish the role of the European Convention's work and to build up its own importance by implementing significant changes in the draft. One of the main obstacles in his opinion is the opposing points of view of the Council and of the Commission as to the contents of the Treaty. The two problematic issues are the insufficient extension of the qualified majority voting rule and the composition of the European Commission (the problem of the 'second rank' Commissioners without voting rights).

Daniel KROUPA commented the opinion of the accession countries, which insist on having their own Commissioner in order to defend their national interest in the Commission. From Mr KROUPA's point of view, the European Commission should not be the second Council, as it is to represent the interests of the European Union as a whole, not of the Member States. He also raised the issue of the preamble by saying that if certain countries support Christian values, they should also remember that "God sometimes punishes us in that way that He fulfils our wishes".

As to the ratification process, all speakers agree that referendums in the Member States are necessary to accept the Constitution. Mr BARNIER stresses that the citizens have to be involved in shaping the European Union. However, Mr PALMER added, so far there have never been any consequences for voting 'against' on the European issues. It should be changed, in his opinion. If the Constitution will be rejected in a referendum, the concerned country should leave the European Union.

Once the Constitution is ratified, there is a question of future amendments of its contents. Mr DE VIGO pointed that the draft revision procedure is a result of the best possible compromise of the Convention. Therefore he does not see a chance for improving this article during the IGC, so that unanimity will probably remain as a tool for future revision of the Constitution.

The speakers also agreed that there is a need to build a strong political campaign to defend the draft Treaty. According to Mr PALMER, the key task lies in mobilising the political network so that the draft Constitution cannot be rejected or significantly changed during the IGC. It would also be a very good idea for the European political parties to appoint their candidate for the president of the Commission before the EP elections in June 2004. It is necessary not only to attract the EU citizens' attention, but also to give them a clear political choice.

The debate ended with Mr LEINEN's conclusion that we need a campaign to defend the democratic legitimacy of the Convention and draft Constitution.

27 October 2003

WMF-UEF Meetings, Copenhagen "The United Nations in the "New World Order": Are the post-world institutions facing extiction?

On the occasion of the United Nations Day the representatives of the World Federalists Movement and of the Union of European Federalists met in the Danish Parliament - Christiansborg Castle.

On October 24, 2003, the public seminar opened a two-day meeting. Among the speakers were Per Stig Moller , Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sir Peter Ustinov , President of WFM-IGP, Niels Helveg Petersen , Former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and representatives of UEF, WFM Asia and Africa.

During a very interesting discussion all speakers agreed with the words of Mr MOLLER that the United Nations are necessary for the world. However, recent events in connection with Iraqi war weakened its position. According to words of Mr PETERSEN, the war proved that, in the end, the United States could not act without the United Nations' mandate. Despite its military power, it could not undermine the UN Charter. Mr Ustinov stated, referring to the UN relations - that there is no difference between war and terrorism; terrorism is war of the impoverished and war is terrorism of the rich. It is unique that the United Nations exists and it cannot be destroyed by the action of one or two countries. The United Nations is much more than just Security Council - its activities are essential for millions of people around the world. Nevertheless, the Iraqi crisis posed again the need for institutional changes in the United Nations, if it is to address properly the challenges and threats of the 21 st century - protection of human rights, poverty, weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

Joint seminar of European and world federalists:

"The contribution of the EU to the strengthening and democratisation of the United Nations and the whole system of world institutions and organisations"

The public seminar of European and world federalists was the next topic on the agenda. Among speakers were Mr Lucio LEVI (WFM/UEF), Mr Andreas Bummel (WFM); the debate was co-chaired by Mr James Christie (WFM) and Mr Bruno Boissiere (UEF Secretary General).

The speakers agreed that the European Union plays a significant role in the United Nations system. Mr Boissiere stressed that world and European federalism are two sides of the same medal; strengthening of the federalism in the world means contributing to the world peace. According to Mr LEVI, European integration is not only a regional matter; on the contrary, it affects the whole world. Mr Bummel said that the European strategy must lead towards world unification. European Union should serve as a promoter of democratisation of the United Nations. In his opinion, intergovernmental cooperation is not enough; the United Nations need a Parliamentary Assembly to gather the representatives of the whole world to find solutions for the common world problems. In the conclusion, Mr Boissiere emphasised that concrete decisions as to WFM/UEF cooperation will be taken soon, preferably until the next UEF congress in March 2004. Joint actions, common positions and documents, along with the possible WFM membership of the UEF will be discussed in the near future.

 
UEF- Denmark Constitutive Assembly

On the second day, while WFM members attended their own Council meeting, about 17 UEF members supported the launch of UEF's new Danish member organisation held in an historic half-timbered house. Due to the presence of non-Danish speakers, the Danish founders decided to hold their meeting in English (!). The best-known member of UEF-Denmark is their President, Professor Finn Laursen , a political scientist well known in Federal Trust, UACES and other international academic circles.

During the meeting the new Danish members emphasised that their main goal was to influence the Danish debate on European integration and federalism in particular. They would primarily do so by writing articles, collecting essays and support publications on these issues and broaden their activities as the number of adherents increased. It was stressed that they benefited from the support of the Danish European Movement (whose Secretary-General was present) that is politically very involved in the political processes relating to EU issues in Denmark.

We wish the new Danish UEF constituent organisation good luck with transforming Danish public opinion!

For further information, please contact Per Skrumsager , the Secretary-General of UEF-DK: per(at)skrumsager.net

UEF-DK Panel discussion: "The IGC and the draft Constitution"

On Saturday morning, the UEF members took part in a common discussion on the draft treaty. The speakers: Mr Guido Montani (MFE - Italy), Mr Erik BOEL (European Movement Denmark) and Prof. Finn LAURSEN (UEF Denmark) tried to answer several questions - what are the strengths and weaknesses of the treaty in its current draft; what results do you foresee from the IGC; what will be the impact on the workings of the Union?

Mr MONTANI stressed that it is high time for the European Union to reform itself by using the Spinelli - method, that is, to accelerate the integration by adopting a constitution for the Union. It is the time for the citizens to put forward their demands - he explained the idea by stating that 'constitution' is the pact of the citizens, whereas a 'treaty' is a pact of the governments. The civil society network must cooperate on the integration, as the governments are no longer capable of doing this. The European Parliament should therefore use its capability to call for a next convention in the future, in order to reform the Union on behalf of its citizens, also in order to abolish the veto right, still present in the CFSP area.

Prof LAURSEN expressed his disappointment as to the shape of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. In fact the CFSP remains still as a second pillar of the European Union, which will not be abolished as the draft treaty states. According to Mr BOEL, it would be a good idea to have the President of the European Commission elected directly by the European citizens in the future. Mr MONTANI added that the question of the President of the Commission must be raised during the upcoming campaign for the European Parliament elections. The speakers agreed that the political parties should appoint their candidate for this post in order to give the European citizens a clear choice. There is a need for a strong political campaign on the issue, which must be discussed with the citizens.

Finally, Mr MONTANI explained the federalism as an idea, which does not apply to a political left-to-right division. It gathers people of different political views, who share a common position as to the federalist path of Europe.

Also during the Copenhagen  meetings, the UEF members held a series of preparatory meetings for the UEF Congress in Genova in March 2004 and for the UEF conference in Prague in May 2004. The UEF members present were informed about the UEF transnational projects, the UEF Newsletter and campaign materials.

15 November, 2003

UEF training seminar: Le fédéralisme dans l'actuel débat sur la Constitution europénne UE

100 people participated in the Training seminar on 15 November at the Maison de l'Europe in Paris; this seminar, co-organised by UEF France and UEF Europe gathered young and older participants from at least 10 regions of France (not seen since a long time ago!) and from I, CZ, NL, B, CH. The sessions were chaired by UEF European Secretary-General in the morning and his national equivalent Daniel HULAS.

UEF Treasurer Gerda de MUNCK presented the greetings of our supranational organisation and welcomed the progress of our ideas in the last decades.

Some fundamental reports were presented. The one on the "History of the federalist movement from the Resistance to the Treaty of Rome" by Jean-Pierre GOUZY, one of the historians of UEF, gave the participants an overview on the origins of the UEF, its first congresses and campaigns as well as its relations with other pro-European organisations and with the world federalists.

The "Federalist method" was explained by Ferdinand KINSKY, Vice-President of CIFE in Nice, as the only means to avoid both anarchy and centralism.

In his speech on "The need of the "Federal State", former UEF President Francesco ROSSOLILLO outlined the great difficulty of achieving the federalist goal of the Federal State in the current frame work; according to him, neither the Convention method nor the draft Constitutional Treaty can in future provide the necessary conditions, for those countries willing to establish a Federal Pact between themselves, to create a new European federal State.

UEF Secretary-General Bruno BOISSIERE reported on how UEF and JEF are campaigning together for a European federal Constitution by raising awareness of the Citizens, trying to involve many other organisations of the Civil Society and putting pressure at all levels on the institutional actors and deciders of the Future of Europe at all levels. He stressed that the next phase of the federalists' campaign should focus on the abolition of any constitution veto.

Finally, UEF France Vice-President Martine MEHEUT presented a detailed and positive analysis of the draft Constitutional Treaty and UEF France President Yves LAGIER called on all participants to contribute to spreading our assessment of the Convention draft and to commit themselves in the future federalist campaign.

In order to benefit to many more members, it was envisaged that the main reports of Paris would be published and translated in 2004 and that similar training seminars should be decentralised and supported in other regions of France as well as in other countries where UEF is represented.

02 December, 2003

Last call to the IGC

Two weeks before the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Conference, the Union of European Federalists, the citizens’ campaign group for a federal Europe, calls on the high Representatives of the Governments of the States involved in the current phase of the constitutional process to:

1. approve – without substantial modification - the Convention’s draft Constitutional Treaty which represents the largest possible consensus at this stage;

2. agree on a revision clause including an agenda and a mandate to a new Convention - to be convened no later than 2008 – in order to complete its constituent work and approve further improvements of the Constitutional Treaty; 

3. proceed to the adoption of the Constitutional Treaty in December 2003 by those States which agree both on the current constitutional step forward and its future revision.

Notes to editors

- The UEF is an independent and non-governmental, supranational organisation, founded in 1946,  dedicated  to  the promotion  of  a  federal  Europe.  It  is  presided over  by  Jo  LEINEN, MEP.

- The UEF issues regular Federalist Letters to the Intergovernmental Conference which are available to read online at www.federaleurope.org/en/campaigns/index.html

- For more information, contact Bruno Boissière, +32 2 508 30 32