The UEF would like to thank the distinguished guests who took the time to participate in the Congress.
For the greetings: Hans-Gert Pöttering (LINK VIDEO) Former President of the European Parliament (2007-2009), President of the House of European History, Petros Fassoulas Secretary General of the European Movement International, Christelle Savall, President of Young European Federalists and Fernando Iglesias President of the World of Federalist Movement. In particular, we thank  Josep Borrell High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, that have taken a time to follow the works of the first session of the Congress.

Political Documents approved by the Congress

The Congress approved several documents. You can find them below:

• Manifesto For a Federal Europe: the Urgency of Overcoming the Current Treaties LINK
• Resolution for Restoring Growth and Competitiveness in Europe LINK
• 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 LINK
• Political Declaration Reinforcing UEF-WFM Cooperation LINK

Other documents

• Financial Report 2021 -2023
• Activity Report 2021-2023
• Workshop on the UEF’s political strategy ahead of the 2024 European elections
• Presentation of the study "Mapping the cost of non-Europe (2022-2032)" by Meena Fernandes
• EPRS Study "Mapping the cost of non-Europe"
• Letter to Charles Michel, President of European Council co-signed by  signed Domenec Ruiz Devesa UEF President and Sandro Gozi as Chair of the Spinelli Group LINK
• Draft resolution to propose to national parliaments to launch mobilization LINK

Result of the Elections

All bodies of the UEF found their members, all elected unanimously in an open ballot. Congratulations to newly elected and returning members of the following bodies:

• Executive Bureau
  • President: Domènec Ruiz Devesa
  • Vice-Presidents: Markus Ferber, Alin Mituta, Giulia Rossilollo
  • Treasurer ad interim: Roland Hûhn
  • Secretary-General ad interim: Luisa Trumellini
  • Other EB members: Antonio Argenziano, Rafael Bez, François Leray, Daphne Gogou, François Mennerat, Eszter Nagy, Alejandro Peinado Garcia, and Wolfgang Wettach.
  • ex-officio member of the EB: Christelle Savall, President of the Young European Federalists
• For the Arbitration Board:  Ugo Ferruta, Daniel Frey, Marianne Huhn, Andreu Iranzo Navarro, Peter Osten, Stefano Spoltore, Daniela White.

• For the Federal Committee:
  • Directly-elected Federal Committee members: Matilde Ceron, Aldecoa Francisco, Nikos Giannis, Angel Landabaso, Eva Lichtenberger, Jean Marsia, Hervè Moritz, Olalla Pastor del Valle, Luis Miguel Periza, Kati Sista, Flavia Gabriela Sandu
  • Nominated members, the list is in the process of being completed LINK

Political message by the UEF President, Domènec Ruiz Devesa

Dear Federalist friends,

Just a few words from me before I leave you with this communication on the Congress that has just taken place.
First of all, let me thank you for the trust you have shown me by electing me as UEF President. It is an honour for me, as well as a great responsibility, because I am and feel first and foremost a federalist activist, who is currently in the institutions, but who lives the federalist commitment as his own priority, and in this sense also feels the relationship with the UEF.

These two years ahead of us will be important years to consolidate our organisation and find the right financial and administrative balance. They will be even more important politically, because they can be decisive for our Europe in taking the crucial steps towards a federal Union.

Our congress took place just three days after the approval by the European Parliament of the proposal to reform the treaties, the first one since the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, the first attempt at reforming the treaty in more than 15 years. We know the process that made it possible to arrive at this vote, through the Conference on the Future of Europe in which we participated directly; and we also know that it is a great opportunity, the only one today, and the first after 40 years since Altiero Spinelli's Draft Treaty, to realise the federal Europe.

Today, therefore, while we are committed to building a broad and widespread campaign in view of the European elections, we urgently need to mobilise ourselves for the success of the next step, i.e. the decision of the European Council in favour of launching a Convention to elaborate the reform of the Treaties. We have urged the Spanish Presidency to immediately transmit the European Parliament resolution to the European Council and asked to President Charles Michel to put it in the agenda of the European Council of the 15th of December, although resistance from national governments will probably force a postponement. Here it is very important the role of the national sections to involve their national parliaments and urge the governments to be in favour of the opening of the Convention. The letter signed by me as UEF President and Sandro Gozi as Chair of the Spinelli Group has just been sent (LINK), together with the Manifesto we approved in our Congress; and here (LINK) you can find a draft resolution to propose to your national parliaments, to launch the mobilization.

We have a very important job to do. I thank you once more very much for all your work, commitment and dedication in federalism. I am convinced that we will work together with confidence and commitment over the next two years, and that together we can make a positive difference in order to meet the challenge of federal Europe. And since it's a long process, by definition the best has always yet to come.

A long road begins to meet citizens' demands and build a more solid future of the EU.
The Union of European Federalists, who strongly supports these proposals of the European Parliament to amend the Treaties, launched a massive and successful outreach campaign encouraging citizen engagement and pressuring MEPs ahead of a crucial vote at the European Parliament.

On Wednesday 22 November, the European Parliament approved the Report on the proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties drafted by Spinelli Group members Guy Verhofstadt, Sven Simon, Gabriele Bischoff, Daniel Freund, and Helmut Scholz.

This was a historic vote, which sees the European Parliament once again playing a leading role after forty years, since the draft Treaty inspired by Altiero Spinelli, in an attempt to strengthen the political and decision-making architecture of Europe to make it a protagonist of the challenges of its time.

Today the vote falls at a time of serious international crisis and during a process of profound transformation of our societies that requires us to act united as Europeans, to strengthen our common house so that it is more effective and at the same time more capable of providing answers to the needs of citizens.

In support of this courageous initiative by the European Parliament, which is in line with the commitments made by the European institutions at the end of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and its sections all over Europe met citizens in more than 30 European cities and online to inform them about the crucial vote of Wednesday.

From 6 to 19 November 2023, Federalist activists organised demonstrations and debates, in the streets and on social media. To know more about our actions, visit the UEF website and watch the livestream of Monday 20 November, featuring the organisers of these local actions. See here also the photo action inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 21 November.

UEF President Domènec Ruiz Devesa in view of the upcoming plenary sent a letter together with Spinelli Group Chair MEP Sandro Gozi to their colleagues of the European Parliament, stating: “An affirmative vote on Wednesday 22 November on the Report on proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties is exactly the answer that our Union and citizens need. I hope that together, as the European citizens’ representatives, we will show a wide majority in the Plenary vote, sending a clear message to the Council and urging its transmission to the European Council under the Spanish Presidency. Thus, we will have the opportunity to discuss the citizens' priorities for a more effective European Union already in the European Council meeting of 15 December 2023” 

The UEF urges the Spanish Presidency of the European Union to immediately transmit the file to the Council of the European Union and asks Charles Michel, in his capacity as President of the European Council to put the decision on the call for a Convention on the agenda of its 15 December meeting.
 

Brussels, 22 November 2023

Context
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity.
The draft report on the amendment of the treaties is the European Parliament’s answer to the Conference on the Future of Europe, an unprecedented democratic exercise that gathered 800 European citizens. These citizens gave out recommendations for institutional reforms of the European Union, and several of them found their way into the report voted today.
Today's vote is the last step to formally call for a Convention to reform the treaty, but only the start of the reform process.

The UEF Secretariat togheter the staff of the MEP and UEF President Domenec Ruiz Devesa has organized a photo action inside the Agora of the Europan Parliament in Strasbourg, involving the MEPs Co-rapporteurs and MEPs of the Spinelli Group.

Rewatch here the photo action organized at the European Parliament in Strasbourg before the discussion on the report AFCO on the proposal of the Treaty Reform. There were present Guy Verhofstadt, Helmut Scholz and Daniel Freund. There were also present MEPs UEF President Domenec Ruiz Devesa, Brando Benifei, former UEF President Mercedes Bresso, Pietro Bartolo, Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, Alin Mituta, Petras Austrevicius

We are pleased to announce that in 30 cities in Europe the action Saturdays For Europe was organized during the weekend of 17-19 November.

The cities are: Afragola (Italy), Alessandria (Italy), Ancona (Italy), Bassano del Grappa (Italy), Bergamo (Italy), Brescia (Italy), Budapest (Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Faenza (Italy), Ferrara (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Hamburg (Germany), Latina (Italy), Lodi (Italy), Luxembourg , Madrid (Spain), Mainz (Germany), Memmingen (Germany), Milan (Italy), Monza (Italy), Padua (Italy), Paris (France), Pavia (Italy), Pinerolo (Italy), Rueglio (Italy), Stradella (Italy), Strasbourg (France), Turin (Italy), Verona (Italy), Valpolicella (Italy), Zwolle (Netherlands).

On 20 November 18:30-19:30, in Strasbourg at the Foyer de l'étudiant catholique F.E.C., the UEF Secretariat has scheduled a Live Streaming where our activists and local sections representatives will present their activities of the Saturdays for Europe.

Watch here the Live Streaming

We are pleased to announce that in 30 cities in Europe the action Saturdays For Europe was organized during the weekend of 17-19 November.

The cities are: Afragola (Italy), Alessandria (Italy), Ancona (Italy), Bassano del Grappa (Italy), Bergamo (Italy), Brescia (Italy), Budapest (Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Faenza (Italy), Ferrara (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Hamburg (Germany), Ivrea, (Italy), Latina (Italy), Lodi (Italy), Luxembourg , Madrid (Spain), Mainz (Germany), Memmingen (Germany), Milan (Italy), Monza (Italy), Padua (Italy), Paris (France), Pavia (Italy), Pinerolo (Italy), Rueglio (Italy), Stradella (Italy), Strasbourg (France), Treviso (Italy), Turin (Italy), Verona (Italy), Valpolicella (Italy), Zwolle (Netherlands).

Google Album Photo

Would you like to share the results of the SaturdaysForEurope?

We publish here the letter signed by the UEF President MEP Domenec Ruiz Devesa and the Chair of the Spinelli Group Sandro Gozi sent on 21 November 2023 to his fellow MEPs in support of the AFCO Report on proposals to amend the Treaties.

Watch here the event trasmission by the CESUE and realized by Granducato TV

For several years now, UEF has been one of the beneficiaries of the operating grant of the “Europe for Citizens” programme of the EACEA – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union and before of this program of others.

Thus, we are thrilled to announce that, again this year, UEF has been confirmed beneficiary of the operating grant of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Union!

The CERV stems from the fusion of the previous programmes “Europe for Citizens” and “Rights, Equality and Citizens Programme”, and aims to protect and promote rights and values as layed down in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in particular by supporting civil society organisations active at local, regional, national and transnational level.

This grant proves the effectiveness of UEF’s actions for the promotion of democracy and citizens participation in Europe and beyond

In 2024, UEF focuses on the following actions:

• A campaign (first semester) in view of the EP2024 elections, to increase participation and turnout. This will be an integrated go-vote campaign together with national sections and JEF Europe (UEF youth organisation), to build a civilsociety coalition according to the general lines and the framework established in late 2023.

• Deepening, enlarging and, where necessary, strengthening its network in view of the celebration of the 20 years of Eastern Enlargement and in view of future enlargements (also due to the threat posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine). Using the occasion of the anniversary celebrations to raise citizens’ awareness of the benefits of EU membership: both in terms of greater freedom, democratic solidity and defence of the rule of law, and in terms of sharing a model projected towards environmental and social sustainability; a democratic and value model capable of being a factor of stability in the global landscape.

• Promoting EU values such as human rights, democracy, rule of law as the basis for European and Global solidarity and Justice; debating on current challenges, e.g., strategic autonomy, climate change, energy policy, security in a global perspective making them understandable to citizens and making the debate more inclusive.

• Campaigning for a Federal Europe, sovereign and democratic (according to its core mission, and specifically as a CoFoE plenary member) and continuing to support the effective, comprehensive and consistent implementation of its conclusions to make the EU fit for the future.

You can rewatch the event online here

What does the Saturdays For Europe action consist of?

1) Download and print the Saturdays For Europe material

Poster (print in A1 or A2 size)

Flyer

Logo

2) Organise actions and take pictures and/or videos

Plan a street action, a meeting with fellow Federalists online, a flash mob, a declaration of a city council. Every action count!

Tip. Let the UEF Secretariat know about your mobilisation: on 16 November we will publish the list of all the cities where the mobilisation will take place.

To coordinate our action we can use this Whatsapp Group (LINK HERE) or send a message via email to davide.negri@federalists.eu.

3) Example of actions

Tip. invite a well-known person in your city to make a testimonial or a photo with the box "Dear President Metsola".

Tip 2: also online action counts. If it is prohitive with the weather organize something outside, stay at home.

4) Share photos and videos on social media with the hashtag #SaturdaysForEurope

5) Let the whole UEF know about your action

Share your material here

or send via email to secretariat@federalists.eu