Our Political Priorities

The UEF calls the President of the European Council and the Heads of State and Government to take on their responsibilities at this crucial moment in the integration process and to convene a Convention for a substantive reform of the European Union a soon as possible. (1)

The pandemic and Europe's ability to react in unity and solidarity have opened up the possibility of a virtuous path, which the Conference on the Future of Europe has translated, through an unprecedented democratic participatory process, into concrete requests and proposals from citizens. These can be summed up in the demand for a Europe that is more capable to act and more democratic and close to its citizens, especially through the strengthening of the powers of the European Parliament to represent them.

All the EU institutions have committed themselves to following up on the results of the conference, but it is above all the European Parliament that has taken it upon itself to request the opening of a Convention for the revision of the Treaties and to draw up in the Constitutional Affairs Commission an proposal for reform, which was approved on November 22, 2023.

These are proposals capable of opening a debate on the founding of a true democratically legitimized European sovereignty and of laying the conditions for the development of a European political power and for a substantial emancipation of the Union from the Member States.

We are convinced, as UEF, that the need to initiate these reforms, in order to provide the European Union with the appropriate competences, resources and powers to implement the common policies necessary to defend the values, security and interests of European citizens, must be at the heart of the European election campaign debate. (2)

1. Read UEF reiterates its commitment for EU Treaty change (6th April 2024)

2. Read For a Federal Europe: the Urgency of Overcoming the Current Treaties (26th November 2023)

3. Watch:
   1. A big step towards a Federal Europe? Part 1 (EU Parliament proposal to reform the treaties, before the vote of 22 November)
   2. A big step towards a Federal Europe? Part 2 (EU Parliament proposal to reform the treaties)

A Convention is composed of representatives of the national Parliaments, the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, the European Parliament and the Commission. The European Central Bank shall also be consulted in the case of institutional changes in the monetary area. The Convention shall examine the proposals for amendments and shall adopt by consensus a recommendation to a conference of representatives of the governments of the Member States. 

The Convention is convened by the European Council, after consulting the European Parliament and the Commission,  and the EU Council adopts the decision with a simple majority in favour of examining the amendments for Treaty Reform. (1)

There are two crucial reasons why we need to open a Convention to reform the Treaties, so apply the ordinary revision procedure of Article 48 (2-5):

1. the need to guarantee democratic participation. Not only the representatives of the European Parliament but also the national Parliaments can intervene in the content of the revision, making the text resulting from the Convention the product not of a mere intergovernmental negotiation, but of a process in which the representative body of the European citizens is also able to express its opinion.
2. simplified revision procedures are limited and cannot be used to expand EU powers and competences:
   1. Article 48 (6) - that avoid to open of a Convention - cannot extend the competences conferred on the Union in the Treaties so cannot gives more powers in the field of defence and external politices
   2. Article 48 (7) so called the passerelle clauses procedures, cannot apply to decisions in the fields of defense and the financing of the Union and would have no relevance for the strengthening of the mechanism of protection of the rule of law embodied in Article 7 TEU.

Read the Memorandum Why we need a Convention to change the Treaties

Watch the video A big step towards a Federal Europe? Part 3 (Why we need to reform the Treaties?)

a) exclusive competences in the field of environmental policy and the protection of biodiversity - a very important step because environmental protection has cross-cutting applications over a vast number of other policies -;

b) competing competences in energy, industry, civil protection, health and education;

c) strengthening foreign and security policy through the extension of majority voting in the Council;

d) creation of an initial basis of the Defense Union through the creation of military rapid intervention units under a single integrated command;

e) extension of majority voting for the adoption of the decision on own resources and the Multiannual Financial Framework to enable the Union to become the master of its own budget, which can be used to pursue its objectives and influence the actions of the Member States through conditionality policies along the lines of the NGEU;

f) introduction of majority voting in the Council to activate the flexibility clause under Article 352 of  TFEU in order to provide the Union with a subsidiary legal basis for the adoption of acts necessary for the pursuit of its objectives;

These changes that bring the possibility of political autonomy for the Union, were also at the heart of the debate during the elaboration of the amendment proposals by the European Parliament.

The European Union faces a multiplicity of challenges in the fields of:

• Economics
• Social policies
• Environment
• Industrial policy
• Digitalization and AI
• Energy
• Health
• Education
• Foreign and security policy
• Real common Asylum and Migration policy
• Defense

The development of common policies in all these areas is necessary to promote inclusive societies and sustainable growth in Europe in order to maintain the European way of life and its standards. It is also necessary for the development of the strategic autonomy which is a core condition for the exercise of political sovereignty.

This includes, among many others, the ability to develop a public investment policy to support the reconversion of many manufacturing sectors, the expansion of research and innovation in strategic sectors, and to intervene in the territorial areas and segments of the population most affected by the transitions taking place. In the field of external action, they imply the capacity to create new partnerships starting with the Mediterranean and African countries, and to contribute to the creation of a wider space of security, exchange, and cooperation that reflects also the legitimate aspirations of the global South, and the emergence of new supranational international institutions that can foster constructive dialogue and cooperation, favoring international trade and sustainable growth.

All these policies need to be developed first at the European level, even if they can be articulated on different levels when necessary, whether national regional or local, according to the basic federalist principle of subsidiarity.

For this, it is necessary first of all to endow the EU with the power to autonomously find the resources to pursue them, to implement them when they have a European dimension, and thus with a democratic decision-making structure and an effective governance capacity.

Read the UEF Manifesto 2023

The consolidation of an essentially bicameral model and the strengthening of the European Commission (renamed 'Executive'):

• g) extension of the ordinary legislative procedure to the majority of decisions, whereby Parliament will permanently exercise the role of political co-decider of the Union alongside the Council, which will have to take decisions by majority vote;
• h) granting Parliament the power of legislative initiative and the right to initiate infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice if a Member State violates EU law;
• i) reform of the appointment procedure of the President of the Executive, who becomes 'President of the Union';
• l) selection of the President by the Parliament to be confirmed by a majority of the European Council;
• m) decrease in the number of members making up the Executive chosen on a political basis by the President himself, taking into account demographic and geographical balance;
• n) reform of the European Council, consisting only of the Heads of state or government and the President of the Union (i.e. the European Executive).

Those changes were also at the heart of the debate during the elaboration of the amendment proposals by the European Parliament

From the UEF Manifesto 2023

Unanimity in the Council still applies in many key areas of the European Union's competences, above all, in the field of foreign and security policy and defense, and in fiscal policy and financing of the Union.

This decision-making rule is neither efficient nor democratic, neither now nor in the perspective of an upcoming enlargement. The need to reach an agreement among 27 – and potentially more than 30 – representatives of democratically legitimized national governments, accountable to a national electorate, makes decisions a result of compromise at the lowest common denominator between conflicting national interests and risks paralyzing the decision-making capacity of the Union. The intergovernmental nature of the decision-making process, hence, does not allow for the emergence of a higher interest of European citizens embodied in the European Parliament. Moreover, it does not allow for quick decision-making, as unanimous compromise, by definition, arises from lengthy negotiations. Finally, a single state, representing even a small minority of European citizens, can prevent any decision.

For these reasons, not only should unanimity be overcome in all fields of the European Union's competences but the European Parliament should be fully involved in the decision-making process.

Read the Memorandum Why we need a Convention to change the Treaties

The brutal aggression against Ukraine by Russia has created the need for accelerating the new wave of Enlargement, first to the Western Balkan countries and Ukraine but also Moldova and Georgia.

The challenge of including a larger number of members on the basis of a new, much more, geopolitical-oriented and security-related vision implies the need to proceed in parallel with important institutional changes to make the decision-making mechanisms and structures of the European bodies adequate to ensure effective functioning with 35 or more members, without the risk of being paralyzed or weakened.

The European Union owes it first and foremost to the candidate countries - and once again first and foremost to Ukraine because of the tragedy it is experiencing - not to betray expectations with regard to EU membership and to offer participation in a solid project.

In this respect, the extension of the ordinary legislative procedure (which also implies the overcoming of unanimity and the right of veto) and the strengthening of the European Parliament and the European Commission, indicate the indispensable conditions for making the Union work and being able to build a structure on several concentric levels of integration around the nucleus of the countries that form a political union.

Read the UEF Manifesto 2023

Read the Statement The atrocities of the wars in Ukraine and Palestine remind us of the urgency of having a federal European government to be able to act on the international stage

Read the resolution On a victorious Ukraine in a Federal Europe

Read the appeal An Airlift to save Ukraine as in Berlin 1948

The Israeli-Palestinian issue, since 2006 (the year of the Palestinian elections), has been confined to a regional issue and the international community has given up playing a role in building a credible path to peace. Since 2006, we have witnessed a crescendo of violence between Israel and Hamas (e.g. Operation Cast Lead in 2009, the major clashes in 2012, 2014 etc.). This context paved the way for Hamas' operation last October.

The horrific terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 2023, perpetrated by Hamas against unarmed civilians, through commando actions, kidnappings and rocket fire, constituted the most dramatic attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War (1973) with a very high number of civilian casualties and the capture of a very high number of hostages. It is an act of terrorism, barbaric and criminal, aimed at making peace impossible and unleashing a crescendo of violence and destruction.

The UEF cannot at the same time fail to note how weak the EU's voice is at this juncture, and how cacophonous the reaction of European states has been until now. This is another reason why, if Europe really wants to contribute to the return of the possibility of peace, it must quickly equip itself with the decision-making and political mechanisms that will enable it to move on the international stage quickly and with a comprehensive common policy agenda, being represented by a true European government endowed with authority and autonomy in external action, generating a unique framework of European intervention that can influence global power relations.

In conclusion, in a new, highly fractured international scenario, where new regional and global powers demand to count on the international scene while new and old crises mark the horizon, we consider the construction of a strong common foreign and security policy, together with a solid pillar of civil protection capacity, crucial for the destiny of European unity and global stability.

That is why we support the launch of a Convention that opens the revision of the Treaties and is in continuity with the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Read the Statement The atrocities of the wars in Ukraine and Palestine remind us of the urgency of having a federal European government to be able to act on the international stage (2023)

Read the Resolution TOWARDS A COMMON EUROPEAN POLICY IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (2021)

Read the Resolution THE EU AS A GLOBAL ACTOR IN THE POST-COVID19 ERA: A STRONGER COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY (2021)