The Union of European Federalists (UEF) recalls that saving lives must be the absolute priority of the European Union. “Our thoughts are to those who lost their lives and to their families. We call for coordinated support and full assistance to the survivors. In line with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Union must guarantee the respect of Human Rights and international law including the non-refoulement principle. We need now full clarity and transparency in the ongoing investigation by the Greek Authorities,” said Sandro Gozi MEP, President of the UEF.

The UEF calls for three concrete actions, ahead of the next European Summit meeting under the Swedish Presidency:

1. Firstly, a thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into the cause of this catastrophe to bring concrete answers to the pressing questions around the shipwreck: Why was a search and rescue operation not launched sooner? What are the causes of the ship capsizing?
   Those who lost their lives, survivors and their families deserve transparency, truth and justice.
2. Secondly, similarly to actions taken after the Lampedusa shipwreck 10 years ago, the establishment of a “Task Force Pylos”. The Task Force will be in charge of identifying the current gaps and listing concrete measures needed for effective rights-based management of the EU's external borders and a sustainable EU asylum and migration policy. A stated objective of this Task Force should be the development and implementation of multipurpose maritime operations based on continuous cooperation of all relevant Agencies (FRONTEX, EFCA and EMSA) and national competent bodies.
3. Thirdly, a real policy change to develop a truly common EU Labour Migration policy, including through bold and courageous Treaty changes. The changes should respond to the needs and economic interests of the Union. To fight effectively against the network of smugglers, it is urgent to reinforce and extend the EU’s cooperation with third countries including cooperation in the area of justice and judicial investigation.
   

Ten years after the Lampedusa shipwreck, this new tragedy resurfaces the pending question concerning the European Union’s capacity to tackle migration and asylum challenges efficiently and humanely. Pylos demonstrates the extent of the challenge: preventing loss of lives by establishing safe and legal routes to Europe for people looking for protection. Despite the continuous efforts of the past ten years and the vast amount of money spent, basic elements of the EU asylum framework (such as humanitarian visas or a system of mutual recognition of asylum decisions) are still missing.

Since 2019, the UEF has called for safe and legal ways to entry in Europe as the only way to avoid such frequently occurring tragedies in the Mediterranean. In the same spirit, the European Parliament has invited on several occasions the European Commission to table concrete legislative proposals on these issues. Yet, once again, we come to the brutal realisation that these goals have not been attained.

The protection and saving of lives at the external borders should be the key priority in European integrated border management. The capacity and operational readiness to conduct effective search and rescue operations should be an important and integral part of the sea border surveillance operations at the external sea borders.

As the number of people drowning in the Mediterranean trying to reach safety in Europe rises, we cannot let Pylos be just another tragedy in a Union unconcerned with human suffering. Instead, let’s work to build a safer and humane migration and asylum system. Only then will we be able to truly live up to the values our Union is founded upon.

Background

14 June 2023 saw one of the deadliest shipwrecks reported in the Mediterranean, as a ship carrying around 750 migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach Europe capsized off the coast of Greece. More than 80 people died and 600 more are still missing at sea.

On Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 May, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and its partners in France and Alsace (Mouvement Européen and Les Jeunes Européen) organised two important events for the democratic future of Europe.

On the evening of the 8th, more than one hundred federalists gathered for a public debate on the Future of Europe at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art with the participation of Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF and Member of the European Parliament. Guy Verhofstadt presented the European Parliament’s Institutional Affairs Committee report on Treaty change and what European representatives have in mind for the future of Europe. All other panellists from the European and Strasbourg’s civil society, Citizen Ambassadors of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), touched on the reform of European Treaties and the positive changes it will bring to European citizens.

Among them were UEF Vice-Presidents and MEPs Markus Ferber and Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Prof. Frédérique Berrod, a member of the UEF France Scientific Committee, and Véronique Bertholle, deputy-major for the city of Strasbourg.

On the morning of Europe Day, activists of the Federalist network offered coffee and croissants to passersby and Members of the European Parliament, reminding them of the urgency to reform the European treaties and ensure a proper follow-up of the CoFoE.

Both these events are linked to the UEF’s petition Respect the Will of the Citizens and the Conference on the Future of Europe calling the Council of the EU to answer to the European Parliament’s resolution of June 2022 asking for treaty reform. The petition now gathers more than 1300 signatures from elected officials, civil servants, academics, and citizens.

“It is time for a strong political message. We must mobilise for treaty reform” said Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF. “The debate organised by the UEF in Strasbourg on 8 and 9 May is this occasion.”

Background
The Conference on the Future of Europe, which ended in May 2022, highlighted the necessity, shared by its Citizen Ambassadors, for the reform of the European treaties. The European Parliament endorsed this call as soon as June 2022, by voting on a resolution calling for a Convention to draft new treaties.
The Council of the European Union, in clear breach of its legal obligations and its engagements during the CoFoE, refused to answer to the European Parliament’s resolution and to give the Conference a proper follow-up.
The UEF campaigns for the recognition of the recommendations of the CoFoE Citizens and the necessity for Treaty change for a federal, democratic and sovereign Europe.

On 28 March 2023, the Union of European Federalists (UEF), along with the Citizens' Panel Ambassadors of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) and the Spinelli Group, the European Parliament’s Intergroup of federalists-minded MEPs, is launching a Petition to the Council of the European Union calling for the reform of European Treaties. The revision of the current Treaty is essential to implement the conclusions of the CoFoE.

The UEF is now calling on European citizens to support the unprecedented democratic exercise of the Conference on the Future of Europe by signing the petition. By pressuring the Council to deliver on the recommendations of the Conference, we will ensure a sovereign and democratic Europe where the will of citizens is duly acknowledged and respected.

Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF said: "The Council does not share the sense of urgency that History is asking of Europe today. We need Treaty revision and the Council is kicking the can down the road. We must put the Council in front of its responsibilities to answer to the citizens’ will.”

Context
The Conference on the Future of Europe, which run from May 2021 to May 2022, drafted a series of recommendations to policymakers. All European institutions promised to ensure a proper follow-up of these proposals. So far, only the European Parliament decisively endorsed the full implementation of the CoFoE recommendations in its 9 June 2022 resolution calling for a Convention to draft new European Treaties.

The Council of the European Union failed to act on the recommendations of the CoFoE citizens. In a complete breach of its duties, the Council is refusing to answer to the European Parliament’s initiative. The Council cannot arrogate to itself the power to block democratic processes. Democracy must prevail, and the UEFs stand with the citizens of the CoFoE to see their recommendations adopted to the fullest.

The petition will be presented today at the European Parliament in the presence of Citizens' Panel Ambassadors of the CoFoE, MEPs, and representatives of the European civil society.

Today marks the first year of the Russian aggression on Ukraine. On this important date for Europe and the besieged country, the European federalists want to reiterate their support to Ukraine and its people. The Union of European Federalists (UEF) remains committed to seeing a victorious Ukraine join the European Union.

Since the start of the conflict, the UEF stood beside Ukraine. On the day of the aggression, the UEF condemned “in the strongest possible terms the aggression [...] against Ukraine, a free and sovereign country in the heart of Europe.” On 4 March, the UEF partnered in the Europe-wide gathering in support of Ukraine organised by its German section of Europa-Union Frankfurt. On this occasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a moving speech and thanked the Europeans for their solidarity, while thousands of people gathered, at the same time, on major European city squares, such as in Frankfurt, Prague, Tbilisi, or Paris.

On many occasions throughout the last 12 months, the UEF reiterated its support to Ukraine. On 5 March, the UEF organised the first Europe-wide online demonstration on the video platform Twitch. On 29 March, our Political Commission on Common Foreign and Security Policy debated the implication of the war for the future of Europe. In April, a statement from the UEF renewed its support to “Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which are currently confronted with continuous attacks and threats by Russia,” and recommended “the Commission [to] expedite its opinion on the granting of the candidate country status to Ukraine.” In June, the UEF welcomed Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for the European Union. In December, the Federal Committee endorsed the appeal "An airlift to save Ukraine" from its Italian section the Movimento Federalista Europeo.

On 27 February, the European federalists will gather at Cafe Kyiv in Berlin to explore ways for the European civil society to help Ukraine

At the UEF’s Federal Committee meeting of the 11 and 12 February 2023, Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF, called for the European Union to reform and welcome a victorious Ukraine: "Our generation must assume its political responsibilities—like the generation of Adenauer or Schumann did with its own. It is not the Ukrainians who should pay the price of our disagreements and reluctance in reshaping the European project. It is an existential duty to reform the European Union.” 

The European federalists will never forget that the fight of the Ukrainians for freedom is ours, and it is that of all of Europe.

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) welcomes the joint declaration between France and Germany on Sunday 22 January and emphasises the commitment of the two countries to reform the European institutions, including the possibility of Treaty revision, in order to strengthen the European Union as a geopolitical actor and prepare it for future enlargements.

In the short term, France and Germany, in order to break the impasses that have been experienced, agree to extend the areas in which qualified majority voting takes place in the Council, for example in certain areas of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and taxation. Moreover, in order to strengthen public participation and support for the European democratic model, they are in favour of the renewal of European electoral law, including the creation of a single European-wide constituency with transnational lists, as well as the development of new ways of involving citizens in European policy discussions, building on the experience of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE).

“The European federalists greet this declaration with satisfaction”, states Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF and MEP of Renew Europe. “The shift to majority voting in the Council, particularly on those matters mentioned in the declaration, the new electoral law with the transnational lists, together with the declaration in favour of opening up the revision of the Treaties, these are all steps in the direction that we federalists advocate, and which also correspond to the demands contained in the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.”

“We now call on the other member states, and notably Sweden, which currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency, to prepare the necessary steps to bring the request of the European Parliament and the CoFoE citizens to the European Council to convene a Convention for the reform of the Treaties,” concludes Sando Gozi. 

The Conference on the Future of Europe has clearly shown that European citizens want a stronger, more efficient and democratic Union. Only through treaty change will the European Union be able to answer their legitimate aspiration. Today's French-German declaration is another step towards the European citizens' will for a federal Europe, sovereign and democratic.

Citizens representatives asked the Council to take their recommendations seriously and ensure a proper follow-up, including through treaty change.

On 2 December, half a year after the conclusion of the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), the European Parliament in Brussels hosted the first follow-up event on this unprecedented democratic exercise.

The Union of the European Federalists takes stock of the open letter that the citizen representatives of the Conference sent to the European Commission and the Council and join in their concern.

In the document, the signatories express share a common worry with the UEF. They regret the “firm silence of the Council,” and its “unwillingness to listen to the citizens’ voice, and to pursue the change the EU needs.” The citizens hope for treaty change: they see it as a “necessity” if it is “the only way for implementing a proposal.”

Federalists, and with them all the supporters of the CoFoE, understand the necessity for Europe to adopt, without reserve, the recommendations put forward by the citizens that took part in the Conference–including the ones that require treaty reform. 

Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF said: "we want a powerful and democratic Europe, through the strengthening of European parties and the Parliament. It is not enough that the member states decide by majority. The European Parliament must be able to supervise the work of the Council, have the right of legislative initiative and have more legitimacy thanks to transnational political movements and the introduction of transnational lists. These reforms should have started yesterday.”

The UEF will continue to support the claim of European citizens for a thorough implementation of the recommendations of the conclusion of the CoFoE and advocate for treaty reform, the only viable path towards a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe.

Here below the video of the intervention of our President, Sandro Gozi

With this nomination, members of the Executive Board of the parliamentary intergroup signal a closer collaboration with the UEF.

The Spinelli Group, an intergroup of the European Parliament gathering Members of the European Parliament of all the major European political families, appointed Sandro Gozi as its new President.

This nomination is a clear sign that the Board of the Spinelli Group is seeking greater collaboration with the Union of European Federalists (UEF), of which Sandro Gozi is President. Both structures will need to collaborate tightly to promote their call for a Convention that would draft new European Treaties.

The revision of the European Treaty has been a long-standing demand of the UEF. In June this year, the European Parliament voted on a resolution to call for the establishment of a Convention to draft new treaties, at the initiative of the Spinelli Group.

As Sandro Gozi takes over the rotating presidency of the Spinelli Group from Daniel Freund MEP, the UEF stands beside his leadership and ensures him the support of all federalists. The UEF warmly thanks Daniel Freund for his chairmanship. 

Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF and the Spinelli Group said: "Our priorities are simple: to push for treaty revision, to raise awareness on the need for treaty revision, to support the new electoral law, and to guarantee that the European institutions ensure a proper followup of the Conference on the Future of Europe.”

The UEF welcomes this year’s historic SOTEU address and congratulates the Commission President for her courageous call for a Convention

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) welcomes the willingness of the European Commission’s President, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, to open a Convention for the revision of the European treaties, on the occasion of this year’s State of the European Union speech.

In a historic speech, the President of the European Commission expressed her support for the revision of the European treaties, following the 9 June resolution of the European Parliament. Ursula von der Leyen follows the steps of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in calling for the redrafting of institutional rules of the European Union.

Although President von der Leyen rightly suggested enshrining generational solidarity in the founding texts of the Union, the European federalists would like to recall their proposals for a stronger and democratic Europe:

The recognition of the European Parliament's direct right of initiative on legislative matters, and the recognition of the Parliament's full co-legislative rights on the EU budget,

The reinforcement of the competencies and powers of the Union in areas such as health, energy and climate change, defense, and social and economic policies,

Shifting from the unanimity rule to qualified majority voting in all European policies, by extending the ordinary legislative procedure.

Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF said: "It was about time! Ursula von der Leyen proposed a Convention to reform the European Union as we federalists have demanded since 2019 and as proposed by the citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe. Let's build a democratic and sovereign European power!”

The UEF stands with Mrs. von der Leyen when she calls for all Europeans to remain united in the face of hardship. Europe’s resolve will be put to the test in the weeks and months ahead, and the solidarity we show to each other must equal the one we must show to our friends in Ukraine.

The Union of European Federalists welcomes the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU candidate list and advocates for the deepening of our institutions

As European leaders met in Brussels on 23 and 24 July in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Membership applications of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, and the follow-up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), the Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the head of states and of governments for immediate action to empower Europe.

The UEF welcomes the candidacy of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU. The decision of European leaders to grant candidate status to these two Eastern-European countries is a historic decision that will shape the destiny of our European community.

Nevertheless, the federalists consider that enlargement should go hand in hand with deeper integration. It is now urgent to reform the functioning rules of the European Union. We ask that the recent decision from the European Parliament to open the revision of the treaties is followed by a similar decision from the European Council.

The revision of the treaty will allow for important reforms in our Union. In particular, the UEF advocates for:

• Budgetary powers to the European Union and the recognition of the Parliament's "full co-legislative rights on the EU budget";
• A shift from the unanimity rule to qualified majority voting in areas such as sanctions, “passerelle” clauses, and emergencies;
• A reinforcement of the powers of the Union, especially in health, defense, and social and economic policies.

Sandro Gozi, President of the UEF said: “On the 9th of May, the three institutions undertook a solemn engagement to translate the proposals made in the context of the Conference into concrete actions. While it is true that much can be done within the framework of the existing Treaties, a deeper reform of the EU is needed. The recent crisis highlight the need to create new competencies in the areas of health, energy, and foreign policy to avoid repeating our past mistakes. The European Parliament lived up to this promise by triggering the treaty revision procedure. Now, the Council needs to show the same degree of ambition as soon as possible, without taboos nor totem!”

Two weeks ago, a vote of the European Parliament endorsed the results of the CoFoE and called on the Council to initiate the process of revising the EU Treaties.

We take not of today’s position of the European leaders and hope that the results of the CoFoE will be discussed soon. The deepening of our institutions cannot wait. It is the only way for Europe to answer the present energetic, economic, social, and geopolitical crisis.

The European federalists will continue to advocate in favor of the recommendations of the CoFoE and for the convening of a Convention on the Reform of the Treaties, at both national and European levels.

The European Parliament confirms the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe and calls for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties