28 August 2024 - Much More than a Market, How to reform the European Union? (Political Debate)

29 August 2024 - Time to Update the Treaties for a Stronger and Larger EU (Political Debate)

29 August - Federalist terrace

30 August - Workshops “Increasing organisational capacity of the Nordic-Baltic federalist family” and “Advocating for federalism in the Nordic-Baltic context”

On 18 July 2024, the YouTube channel EU Made Simple conducted 4 interviews with MEPs - Sandro Gozi, Gabriele Bischoff, Markus Ferber and Daniel Freund - members of the Spinelli Group, as Media Partner of the action that European federalists carried out on 18-19 July in Strasbourg ‘Reform Europe Now’ in view of the inauguration of the new European Parliament.

Find below the 4 interviews

UEF and the Spinelli Group highlight this passage from Ursula von der Leyen's speech and call all pro-European forces in the new majority to action. 

"Our Union and our democracy are constant work in progress. And there is more that we can do. We need an ambitious reform agenda to ensure the functioning of a larger Union and to increase democratic legitimacy. While reforms were necessary before, with enlargement they become indispensable. We must use this as a catalyst for change in terms of our capacity to act, our policies and our budget. We will of course focus on what we can already do, of which there is a lot. But we should be more ambitious. I believe we need Treaty change where it can improve our Union. And I want to work on that with this House. And this will be part of a closer partnership between the Commission and the Parliament."

Ursula von der Leyen, Strasbourg, 18 July 2024 

On 18 July, Ursula von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament to the presidency of the European Commission with a large majority, clearly defined by the common positions on support for Ukraine, respect for the rule of law, and strengthening the European Union. The weeks following the European vote at the beginning of June thus served to test the existence of a common will among pro-European political forces to keep a firm grip on an EU that is increasingly called upon to respond to external threats and protect its citizens. Despite the increased presence at the European level of right-wing, anti-European, and anti-system forces, the votes by which Ursula von der Leyen was elected show that in this legislature there are still margins to achieve decisive advances in the unification process, in continuity with the Conference on the Future of Europe (not by chance also referred to in von der Leyen's speech).  

For this reason, it is particularly significant that, within the broad political programme presented by the President, there was a clear reference to the need for an 'ambitious reform agenda' with the aim of 'improving our Union', to be drafted together with the European Parliament. Even though this passage has generally been ignored in political and journalistic commentaries, the Spinelli Group and UEF instead emphasise it strongly, both because they supported it in the election campaign and in the past weeks of negotiations with von der Leyen, and because they consider it a crucial point on which the pro-European forces must commit themselves. 

"As UEF, we welcome the fact that our indications, made public immediately after the close of voting on 10 June, were followed. We had called the pro-European political forces to create a coalition homogeneous in European and international policy positions, choosing the candidate for the presidency of the Commission on the basis of the Spitzenkandidaten system and stressing, as a necessary condition, the support to the reform of the Treaties, as voted by the outgoing European Parliament," points out Domènec Ruiz Devesa, former S&D  MEP and President of UEF. “When von der Leyen's candidacy loomed up, we also wrote to her directly to that effect. Now it is important to take advantage of this openness of the President to work, Commission and Parliament together, to present to the European Council ambitious proposals for Treaty change, starting from the report prepared by the outgoing EP and putting the call for the launch of the Convention at the centre”. 

"As President of the Spinelli Group and in my capacity as secretary of the European Democratic Party, I personally insisted bilaterally with Ursula von der Leyen during our conversation on the need for her to mention support for the reform of the Treaties in her keynote speech," explains Sandro Gozi, Renew MEP and President of the Spinelli Group. "After all, she herself made it clear: the EU needs reforms to cope with enlargement, to strengthen its defence capability, to increase its competitiveness. All this is reflected in the policies to be made, and - as a pre-condition - in the decision-making mechanisms and financing of the European budget. This is exactly the work done in AFCO and approved in plenary at the end of the last parliamentary term, which must be taken up and relaunched'. 
 

On the day that Ursula von der Leyen appeared before the European Parliament and was voted in, the Spinelli Group and UEF also organised a series of initiatives, starting with a rally in front of the entrance to the EP before the start of the morning proceedings, along with a series of political meetings, and interviews that were broadcasted on social media:

• Street action in front of the European Parliament : post 1, post 2,
• Update of the Spinelli Group composition, news, and events: post 1
• Political debate at the Association Parlamentaire Europeen (APE) with MEPs Sandro Gozi (Renew), Gabrielle Bischoff (S&D), Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA), Zejiana Zovko (EPP)
• Interviews with MEPs members of the Spinelli Group: Sandro Gozi (Renew, and President of the Spinelli Group), Gabrielle Bischoff (S&D), Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA), Markus Ferber (EPP)

PRESS CONTACT
Ilaria Caria
Secretary-General
secretariat@federalists.eu

Thank you very much for recording Olalla Pastor del Valle of the Union des Fédéralistes Européens - France (UEF France)

More news here https://federalists.eu/event/17-19-july-federalist-events-for-the-opening-of-the-new-european-parliament/

The UEF President Domenec Ruiz Devesa has signed four letters, that we publish below, addressed to the Presidency of the main pro-European political group in the European Parliament that which are officially constituted - EPP, S&D, Renew and The Left, right before the meetings among the EP groups and the candidate of the European Commission President.

Each letter calls to includes those points as key institutional conditions in exchange of its support for the election of the Commission President:

And they concluded "It is my view that Parliament´s leverage at this moment is at its peak, and therefore must be wisely used. I am sure that you will succeed in improving the powers and influence of our institution at this critical time."

In the morning of the 18th of July, we organized a demonstration in front of the European Parliament, to spread the message of federalism to new MEPs, distribute flyers about the Spinelli Group, and call for the new legislature to continue the work on institutional reform.

At lunch time, a first preparatory meeting of the new Spinelli Group took place. Spinelli Group affiliated MEPs who got re-elected, as well as new ones, together with representatives of federalist organizations, discussed the next steps in the process of building the new Spinelli Group, possible future actions, as well as the possible creation of Spinelli Groups in national parliaments.

Afterwards, in the evening of 18th of July, together with our partners, we organized a debate on the challenges of the new legislature with MEPs Sandro Gozi (Renew), Gabriele Bischoff (S&D), Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA) and Željana Zovko (EPP). The panel was moderated by Hervè Moritz (EM France) and Matteo Angeli (APE). You can watch the full debate here.

In the morning of the 19th of July, we organized a breakfast for newly elected MEPs to learn more about the Spinelli Group.

We would like to offer a big thank you to our activists and partner organizations, without whom these events would not have been possible: The Spinelli Group, The European Parliament Association (APE), UEF France, JEF Europe, JEF Strasbourg, the European Movement France, and the European Movement Alsace.

We also wish to offer a big thanks to our media partners Other Europe and EU Made Simple.

You can watch the EU Made Simple interviews with MEPs regarding federalizing Europe here

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

In the aftermath of the political earthquake caused by the results of the European elections, it is increasingly clear that the construction of a democratic European sovereignty is the only way to stop the plan for democratic and civic backwardness carried out by nationalist and anti-European forces.

At the start of the new legislature, it is therefore imperative that the pro-European forces make their support for the new Commission conditional, not only on support for Ukraine in its resistance to Russian aggression, first and foremost on a commitment to support the European Parliament in its call for reform of the Treaties and to fight for the convening of the Convention.

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 80 entitled "European Elections 2024: The fight between European Federalists and Nationalists has just begun", 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

Here the version avaiable:

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

The Union of European Federalists congratulates all members of the Spinelli Group 2019-2024 who were re-elected for the next term of the European Parliament.
We can only wish them good luck!

1. Andrey Kovatchev, EPP, BULGARIA
2. Eva Maydell, EPP, BULGARIA
3. Sandro Gozi, Renew, FRANCE
4. Bernard Guetta, Renew, FRANCE
5. Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Renew, FRANCE
6. Laurence Farreng, Renew, FRANCE
7. Christophe Grudler, Renew, FRANCE
8. Raphaël Glucksmann, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, FRANCE
9. Daniel Freund, Greens/EFA, GERMANY
10. Simon Sven, EPP - European People's Party, GERMANY
11. Damian Boeselager, Greens/EFA, GERMANY
12. Markus Ferber, EPP - European People's Party, GERMANY
13. Gabriele Bishoff, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, GERMANY
14. Rasmus Andresen, Greens/EFA, GERMANY
15. Moritz Kroener, Renew, GERMANY
16. Delara Burkhardt, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, GERMANY
17. Manolis Kefalogiannis, EPP - European People's Party, GREECE
18. Brando Benifei, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, ITALY
19. Alessandra Moretti, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, ITALY
20. Petras Auštrevičius, Renew, LITHUANIA
21. Andrius Kubilius, EPP - European People's Party, LITHUANIA
22. Javier Lopez, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
23. Jonás Fernández Álvarez, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
24. Lina Gálvez Muñoz, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
25. Nicolás González Casares, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
26. Juan Fernando López Aguilar, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
27. Ignacio Sánchez Amor, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
28. Javier Moreno Sánchez, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
29. César Luena López, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
30. Cristina Maestre Martín de Almagro, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN

NEW MEMBERS THAT SIGNED THE UEF PLEDGE

At the same time, we would like to offer our warmest congratulations to the newly elected members who signed our UEF pledge before the European elections and who have committed to become part of the Spinelli Group for the next term of the European Parliament:

31. Estelle Ceulemans, Parti Socialiste, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, BELGIUM
32. Murielle Laurent, Place Publique / Parti Socialiste, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, FRANCE
33. Kai Tegethoff, Volt, Greens/EFA, GERMANY
34. Jan-Christoph Oetjen, FDP, Renew, GERMANY
35. René Repasi, SPD, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, GERMANY
36. Camilla Laureti, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, ITALY
37. Carolina Morace, MoVimento 5 Stelle, Non-inscrits ITALY
38. Cecilia Strada, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, ITALY
39. Cristina Guarda, Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, Greens/EFA, ITALY
40. Elisabetta Gualmini, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, ITALY
41. Flavio Tosi, Forza Italia, EPP - European People's Party, ITALY
42. Giorgio Gori, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
43. Irene Tinagli, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
44. Marco Tarquinio, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
45. Matteo Ricci, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
46. Nicola Zingaretti, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
47. Pierfrancesco Maran, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
48. Pina Picierno, Partito Democratico, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats ITALY
49. Salvatore De Meo, Forza Italia, EPP - European People's Party ITALY
50. Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, D66, Renew Europe NETHERLANDS
51. Thijs Reuten, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, NETHERLANDS
52. Laura Ballarín Cereza, PSOE, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, SPAIN
53. Maria Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Partido Popular, EPP - European People's Party, SPAIN

EU PARLIAMENTS MEMBERS THAT HAVE ACCEPTED TO BE MEMBER OF THE SPINELLI GROUP AFTER THE ELECTION

54. Sabrina Repp, SPD, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, GERMANY
55. Vivien Costanzo, SPD, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, GERMANY
56. Nikos Papandreou, Pasok, PES - Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats GREECE
57. Ľubica KARVAŠOVÁ, Renew, SLOVAKIA
58. Nikolaos FARANTOURIS, The Left, GREECE
59. Reinier VAN LANSCHOT, Greens, NETHERLANDS
60. Dimitrios TSIODRAS, EPP - European People's Party, GREECE
61. Pascal Canfin, Renew, FRANCE
62. Markus Ferber, EPP - European People's Party, GERMANY

63. Guy Verhofstadt, Ex Officio Permanent Member, Belgium

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) congratulates the 180 millions (provisional data) citizens that have participated in the 2024 European elections, but expresses its concern for the stagnation in the participation rate: 50.08% percentage points (provisional results), not far off from the 2019 result of 50,66% (LINK).

Secondly, UEF expresses its concern by the increase in support for Eurosceptic and Europhobic far-right political parties: with regard to the estimations, the ID and ECR groups grow but (luckily) not significantly enough: with 4 more seats (ID) and 9 more seats (ECR) than in the outgoing Parliament. EPP also gained 9 seats, while there is a significant decrease in the seats of Renew (22 seats lost) and Greens/EFA (19 seats lost) groups. The S&D group had only a mimiminal decline, having lost two seats compared to 2019. One has to take into account that there are as many as 53 seats allocated to new parties that have to choose their European family.

The developments in France and Germany, in particular, are worrying. In France the result of the Rassemblement National (ID Group) party was confirmed with 31.37% of voting, and just after the announcement of the first exit poll results, the French President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the French Parliament and a first round of elections on the 30th of June. In Germany, the Alternative für Deutschland (far-right party currently not affiliated to any European group) became the second most voted party with 15,90% of votes.

At the same time, the European federalists would like to point out that nonetheless, the large majority of European voters have supported pro-European political parties and movements, representing no less than 454 seats in the new European Parliament. In this context, we urge all pro-European political forces with representation in the new European Parliament  to unite and form a strong and cohesive coalition based on a Legislature Agreement that categorically excludes the far-right. This is a political necessity also in order to ensure a stable majority in Parliament and a work programme consistent with the mandate of European voters. 

Among the essential points on which to base a cohesive pact, UEF stresses that there must be support for the strengthening of the European Union - and thus for the reform of the Treaties through a Convention (ex Art. 48.2 TEU) - and for Ukraine’s resistance against Russia's aggression.

In accordance with the Resolution approved by the European Parliament on the 12/12/2023, and in application of the principles of the lead candidates process (“Spitzenkandidaten”), UEF urges the Conference of Presidents to back the lead candidate tabled by the political party that has gained the highest number of seats to be proposed by the European Council as candidate for President of the European Commission.

In parallel, said candidate should immediately engage in negotiations with the other lead candidates and the presidents of the European political parties and their respective parliamentary groups in order to constitute a pro-European majority for their election, on the basis of the legislature agreement.

Since the upcoming parliamentary legislature will be decisive for the future of Europe, UEF strongly believes that a fundamental condition to confirm the next President of the Commission, is that they must support the launch of the Convention for Treaty reform. The existential challenges facing the European Union and the upcoming enlargement urgently require that a process of profound reform - as already called for by the outgoing Parliament on the basis of the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe - is initiated.

The UEF calls on all democratic and pro-European forces to come together and strengthen the unity of Europe, its democracy and the model it represents as a union of States and citizens. 

Our fate, and that of our values and social model, are at stake. We cannot fail. 

Brussels, June 10, 2024 

Press Contact: Ilaria Caria, Sec.-Gen., secretariat@federalists.eu, +32 491524097

List of the candidates that have signed the UEF Pledge for the European Elections 2024

1. Read here the pledge
2. Go to the campaign page
3. Here the list of the signatures (alphabeltical order)

Go to the section directly linking the country

Austria[1] | Belgium[2] | Bulgaria[3] | Czech Republic[4] | France[5] | Germany[6] | Greece[7] | Hungary[8] | Italy[9] | Luxembourg[10] | Malta[11] | Netherlands[12] | Romania[13] | Spain[14] | Sweden[15]

Austria [1]

Belgium [2]

Bulgaria [3]

Czech Republic [4]

France [5]

Germany [6]

Greece [7]

Hungary [8]

Italy [9]

Luxembourg [10]

Malta [11]

Netherlands [12]

Romania [13]

Spain [14]

Sweden [15]