The EU's Foreign Policy Problem Exposed: Chaos, Confusion, and Missed Opportunities How did the EU handle Hamas' attack on Israel? Not well. Institutional chaos, conflicting loyalties, and indecision plagued its response. While the U.S. moved swiftly with a unified strategy, the EU stumbled. Discover the five fatal flaws crippling Europe's ability to act on the global stage—and the bold reforms that could fix them.

Video produced by the EU Made Simple, the YouTube Channel with more 134.000 followers until today. Exists also other channels in national language:

• EU Leicht Germacht
• L'UE Simplifiée
• Η ΕΕ ΑΠΛΑ
• UE in modo semplice
• A UE Simplificada
• La UE Màs Simple

On the occasion of the European Council meeting on 19-20 December, the UEF and JEF collaborated to send advocacy letters to EU leaders, urging them to include Treaty Reform on the agenda or, at the very least, to ensure it is "taken note" during this important institutional meeting.

Please find the letters bellow.

António Costa, European Council President, received a letter.

Letter to Roberta Metsola, European Parliament President.

Letter to Manfred Weber, EPP Chair.

Letter to Valérie Hayer, Renew Europe Chair.

Letter to Iratxe García Perez, S&D Chair.

This is the video recording of the workshop online organized by UEF Secretariat in collaboration with Olalla Pastor del Valle, FC Member, UEF France Communication Officer, and DG Comm of the European Parliament.

You can watch here the presentation done: LINK

The European Letter is back and it is dedicated to the post European Elections.

Trump's election, with the repercussions it will cause internationally, comes at a time of great vulnerability for the European Union, squeezed between security threats, dependence on third countries in strategic sectors, technological backwardness, an economic, political and social crisis that weakens democracy, and two key countries, Germany and France, paralysed by internal crises. Faced with this scenario, the European Union can only save itself by addressing the underlying issues that have been paralysing the integration process for decades and by resolving the causes of its structural decline.

The European Letter is published in 7 languages - from the edition 77 - under the auspices of the Luciano Bolis European Foundation in cooperation with the Union of European Federalists.

The European Letter is a periodical publication started in 1997 with the aim of stimulating political debate in national parliaments and governments, and in the European Parliament.

The European Letter 83 entitled "But where the danger is, also grows the saving power", is sent to parliamentarians in the following legislative bodies:

• European Parliament
• Bundestag
• Parliament of the French Republic
• Parliament of the Italian Republic
• Cortes generales (Spanish Parliament)
• Nationalrat (Austrian Parliament)
• Belgian Federal Parliament
• Hellenic Parliament
• Parlamentul României
• Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland)

Here the version avaiable:

• ENGLISH
• ITALIAN
• FRENCH
• GERMAN
• GREEK
• ROMANIAN
• SPANISH

Interview with Sandro Gozi MEP Renew and former President of the Union of European Federalists and the Spinelli Group, conducted by the EU Made Simple member, Elliot Baudeweyns.

The main topics are:

• How to create a European Federation
• Treaty Reform and next steps
• Enlargements and necessary reforms

Listen here the Audio Podcast of the interview

The Perspective of the Eastern European Countries on the Future of Europe

The Interregional Conference in Bucharest brought together key stakeholders to address EU enlargement, the rule of law, competitiveness, federalist action, and the recent inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area. The conference underscored the critical role of the rule of law as the backbone of democracy, with Alin Orgoan emphasizing Romania’s need to regain public trust following the annulment of presidential votes by its Constitutional Court. He also highlighted Malta’s ongoing challenges with judicial efficiency and the impact of the European Court of Justice’s rulings on judicial appointments.

EU Digital Ambassadors Razvan Petri and Vlad Adamescu, from ‘Politica la Minut’, discussed the need for more public participation among the youth and the transformative impact of the Erasmus program. They underscored the necessity of making Erasmus more accessible and the role of digital platforms in educating and informing the European public.

Dacian Cioloș discussed the renewed focus on EU enlargement, driven partly by Russian aggression and the urgent need for reconstruction in Ukraine. He noted the overall growing political and public acceptance of enlargement despite rising anti-EU sentiments. Cioloș stressed the need for progressive integration, suggesting that member states be allowed access to policies upon completing negotiation chapters, to facilitate smoother integration processes.

The conference also highlighted the disparities in educational funding across EU states, advocating for increased EU funds for economic development and making Erasmus more accessible to financially struggling students, particularly in expensive cities. Alin Orgoan suggested this as part of a broader strategy to ensure that candidate countries embrace EU principles and are adequately prepared for integration.

Furthermore, the need to update EU Treaties was a recurring theme, with discussions focusing on how the current treaties are outdated and not reflective of global changes. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Laura Codruța Kövesi were cited as exemplary models of upholding the rule of law within the EU framework.

The conference concluded with calls for institutional reform within the EU to enhance decision-making processes. The current unanimity requirement was criticized for blocking progress, with suggestions for a more flexible approach. The importance of resource management was also noted, with a specific call to exploit resources like graphite in Romania and implement solutions from reports by prominent EU figures like Draghi and Letta.

Conclusions: The Interregional Conference in Bucharest highlighted the complexities of EU enlargement, the indispensable role of the rule of law, and the urgent need for institutional reform to tackle current geopolitical and economic challenges. Key action points include developing a robust mechanism for integration, increasing economic support, and redefining EU institutions to improve governance.

Listen here the recording of the event

Introduction by Catherine Vieilledent, Sec Gal UEF Groupe Europe
Today, we review 3 founding reports that have been presented this year, each with a different stress: one centered on European competitiveness (a complex, multifaceted concept), the other on leveraging the Single Market, the third on European defense.

All converge on a common diagnosis: the EU is losing ground worldwide and must urgently equip itself to address the challenges of a non-cooperative international environment, with traditional allies becoming economic rivals, neighbours turning into war mongers, third countries rallying to challenge the existing global status quo.

Under such changed circumstances, the EU’s strategic autonomy is an urgent and imperative task and the huge investment gap must be bridged (800 billion euros yearly) in order to deal with the green and digital transitions and to construct a credible defense. Together the 3 reports form an immense roadmap for the European Union and a renewed agenda for Ursula von der Leyen’s 2019 “geopolitical Commission”, now to grow into a geopolitical Union.
The 3 reports converge on the need to align EU policies like trade, competition, the fiscal union, the capital market by 2026, foreign and security policy in order to construct our strategic autonomy and remedy our dependencies. Most pressing is the need to unlock the EU’s financial capacity, settle the protracted debate on a sizeable European budget, with own resources, on a common debt or a deeper financialization of European savings with pension funds. The call is for the EU to get ready: despite its sizeable population and big, prosperous market, Europe lacks scale because it is fragmented; it lacks speed, due to poor governance and coordination, and it lacks focus because it is not united and it is not prepared.

The analysis may be cruel but on the other, it is a call for bold action. There is no proposed regression on decarbonation as key to cheaper energy, economic growth and a path towards restoring EU competitiveness. European defense industry, though highly competitive, must urgently address the need for aggregation and integration of capacities. Accelerated interconnectivity of energy, transport, telecoms and data in the Single Market, sectors long forgotten because they were deemed strategic, must unlock national markets that have become straightjackets: the EU today must respond to the challenge of continental scale markets, and repair fragmentation and underinvestment.

The reports make a very strong case for more unity, more cohesion in a better Union. They show the way towards the sovereign and democratic Federation that the Union of European Federalists, a supranational, non-governmental political organization has committed to since 1946. I am the Secretary Gal of UEF Group Europe, co-organiser
of this event as a multinational section of UEF created in the institutions for EU officials and staff in the 1970s and I am proud, also on behalf of UEF, to welcome our 4 distinguished speakers at this critical juncture in European history.

Brussels, November 21, 2024

European Parliament's Major Pro-European Political Groups agree to a Legislature Pact

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is pleased that three of the largest political groups of the European Parliament—the European People’s Party (EPP), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe (RE)— have agreed on a cooperation platform for the 10th legislative term.

The agreement, signed by Manfred Weber (Chair EPP), Iratxe García Pérez (Chair S&D), and Valérie Hayer (Chair Renew Europe), pledges for a collaborative work to deliver on an ambitious reform agenda aligned with the Political Guidelines outlined by the European Commission President on 18 July 2024.

This alliance directly answers the urgent call made by the UEF following the European Elections. The UEF has strongly advocated for all democratic and pro-European forces to unite in the European Parliament to reinforce European unity in the context of rising Eurosceptic and Europhobic far-right political parties, including by agreeing to a Legislature Pact.

Treaty Reforms as fundamental for a stronger Europe

Furthermore, The UEF takes note that the agreement stresses the importance of reforming the Union by saying that “we commit to advance necessary reforms, including Treaty changes, towards ‘an ever closer union’”.

“This is a truly historic step in the European political system: the first written coalition agreement among political groups at the EU level” said Domènec Ruiz Devesa, former MEP and President of the UEF.

The next step: The European Council

As agreed in the resolution on Building consensus for Treaty change at the recent Federal Committee in Budapest (16 November), the UEF denounces that the Presidency of the European Council has so far ignored the request of the European Parliament to put the convening of a Convention for the reform of the Treaties on the agenda, and calls on the European Parliament, also on the basis of the said Cooperation Platform to continue the battle begun in the previous parliamentary term for the opening of a Convention to reform the Treaties ex art. 48, in particular by adopting a Plenary Resolution recalling the obligations of the European Council on the matter.

A topic that isn't new to our channel is looking towards the future. Now, with an unpredictable factor in the United States, we are thinking about their future more than ever. Naturally, we have to cover such sentiments on a livestream. And of course we won't do it alone; join us in our conversation with MEP Lukas Mandl (EPP) and listen to his views on topics like the war in Ukraine, the US-EU relationship, and European Integration! What do our politicians think about Federalism? What does the EU's relationship with the US look like with a Trump presidency?

Guest: MEP Lukas Mandl (EPP), President of the Spinelli Group (https://thespinelligroup.eu)

Host: Elliot Baudeweyns

Before starting the political event, two video messages were shared by the actual Chair of the Spinelli Group Lukas Mandl and by the former Chair of the SG, Daniel Freund.

Watch here the video by Daniel Freund

Listen here the AUDIO PODCAST of debate