UEF - Union of European Federalists

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 President of UEF, MEP Sandro Gozi and the President of UEF Austria, MEP Lukas Mandl assess this year's State of the European Union address from a federalist perspective.

In a historic speech, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clearly supported the call for a Convention to draft new European Traties, just like the European Parliament requested on 9 June.

But is this support enough? What are the next steps before the Convention can take place? What are the demands and propositions of the federalists?

The event is moderated by the journalist Dr. Nana Walzer.

Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch

With federalist regards,

Anna Echterhoff
Secretary General of the UEF

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBER: UEF KOSOVO

During the Federal Committee Meeting of the UEF in July, the application for membership of the Kosovar section was confirmed! We warmly welcome our federalist friends from UEF Kosovo and are looking forward to our cooperation!

Here below is the link of the welcome speech by UEF President Sandro Gozi:

WELCOME TO UEF KOSOVO BY SANDRO GOZI by European Federalists

Rainer Wieland, MEP and President of the Europa-Union Deutchland (EUD), attended the constituent meeting of the Executive Board of the UEF Kosovo on 26 May in the Europahaus in Pristina as a guest of honour and participant in the discussion. Here below some photos of that events.

The first General Assembly meeting elected the Executive Board:

Emrush Ujkani - President
Era Jashari - Vice President
Rina Mehana - Secretary General
Granit Terrnava - member of the Board
Alban Kryeziu - member of the Board

For more contacts: uef.kosovo@gmail.com / +383 49 887 666

Here below is the link to a video showing some beautiful precious moments:

THE FOUNDATION OF UEF KOSOVO by European Federalists

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.

In the paper, some eminent experts of the Movimento Federalista Europeo (MFE), the Italian section of the Union of European Federalists, outline a series of reforms of the EU institutional architecture, which might streamline and democratise the functioning to the Union.

Sandro Gozi, European Parliament member and Union of European Federalists President, has sent to the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) and of the The Spinelli Group the last issue of the series Federalist papers “The European Union and the return of war. The Urgent need for a federal Europe, Sovereign and Democratic” with the introduction of Sandro Gozi itself.

Here the paper in PDF (English language)Download

For instance, it is proposed:

the transition towards a Parliamentary system where the European Parliament and the Council will turn into the Low and the High Chamber respectively, and the Commission will act as the Executive of the Union;
this overhaul of the institutional framework should be coupled with the extension of the Ordinary Legislative Procedure to all policy areas, the budgetary empowerment of the European Parliament and the overcoming of unanimity voting in the Council.

We public here the introduction written from Sandro Gozi

"European unity, as we have known it since 1951, was built on the ashes of the Second World War, the most devastating conflict in the history of humankind. Now, eighty years on, war has returned to our continent, and it is drawing increasingly and dangerously close to the borders of the European Union. However, Putin’s attempt to exploit the divisions between the twenty-seven member states has failed, and indeed only reinforced the sense of belonging and unity that had already emerged during the pandemic. While pro-European forces certainly cannot but draw satisfaction from the emergence of this new “geopolitical” Union, the unprecedented political cohesion we are witnessing today must not result in political immobility, or short-sighted acceptance of the way the Treaties, in their current form, are limiting the scope for affirmation of a truly transnational political system. Rather, the EU’s current capacity for action, limited by the competences attributed to it, as well as by the fact that unanimity is still required in numerous areas, should drive us to demand, more insistently than ever, a sovereign and democratic Europe. It is, above all, crucial to overcome the idea that the single twenty-seven nations have a monopoly on democracy, and that this can be exercised solely within their own borders.

The very survival of Europe’s nation-states, now incapable of guaranteeing their own vital interests in the face of a world made of “empires”, from Russia to China, hinges on the success of this transnational project. The main challenges faced by the world every day, such as climate change, the digital transition, and the safeguarding of multilateralism, are indeed transnational issues and, as such, cannot be addressed through unilateral actions by the single nation-states, whose influence has declined dramatically. At the same time, the attribution of new competences to the EU must necessarily be accompanied by the creation of a genuine European political space, to be achieved through the progressive affirmation of transnational political and civic subjects as the main protagonists of truly European elections and debate.

Today, the EU cannot yet call itself fully democratic, or a power, or less still sovereign. This was, in fact, one of the main conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which saw participating citizens calling upon European and national politics to make the EU more social, greener, and above all more democratic and attentive to the demands of its citizens. Such an appeal cannot and must not go unheeded. The European Parliament, abiding by its commitment, immediately approved the reform of electoral law that introduces transnational lists, and voted to trigger Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, thereby initiating the procedure for amending the Treaties, asking the European Council to convene, at the earliest opportunity, a Convention for this purpose. I think the ideas and proposals set out in this “federalist paper” can contribute in a concrete and constructive way to the democratisation of the EU in the context of this imminent process of European reform.

Deeming it now indispensable, we want a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe, aimed at defending the values and principles of peace, multilateralism and cooperation between free and sovereign countries, as well as national and local values, interests and identities; and ready to act as a power on the global stage to more effectively manage the problems and challenges which the nation-states have lost the ability to control."