Pier Virgilio DASTOLI, President of the Italian Committee of the European Movement (CIME), writes:

“The Quirinal Treaty between Italy and France will be signed in Rome on 25 November by Emmanuel MACRON and Mario DRAGHI.

The negotiations, launched in early 2018 by the Gentiloni government at a meeting chaired by Italian Minister GOZI and French Minister LOISEAU, and the drafting of the project had been entrusted to a group of six "wise men" including Italians Franco BASSANINI, Marco PIANTINI and Paola SEVERINO.

Among the priority themes of the agreement, emphasis is placed on research, culture, industry and defence, stressing the need to implement means such as structured enhanced cooperation in the event that unanimous decisions impede joint progress. After the Italian elections in 2018 and the formation of the Conte I government with Lega and Movimento 5 Stelle, the negotiations had been frozen, they were not resumed by the Conte II government due to the pandemic, and they were only relaunched by the Draghi government. They will finally be concluded on 25 November.

Many things have happened in the meantime in Europe and between Italy and France, including the start of the Conference on the Future of Europe, with the French and Italian willingness to consider the possibility of going beyond the Lisbon Treaty signed 14 years ago, at a time when the conditions of the world and of Europe were radically different from those of today.

This raises the question of "what to do" if some governments are not willing to negotiate and accept a revision of the Lisbon Treaty, and therefore which project, method and timetable to consider in order to overcome the obstacle of the Convention on the basis of Article 48 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), which requires the convening of a diplomatic conference, the unanimous agreement of the national governments and the unanimity of national rectifications.

Within the platform on the future of Europe set up in September 2019 at the CNEL (National Counsil for Economic and Labour) by the Italian European Movement, the issue of differentiated integration has been discussed several times, a subject on which the Institute of International Affairs is working within the framework of a European project, while the European Movement has urged the Spinelli Group of the European Parliament to revive the essentially constituent method that the European Parliament had adopted for the elaboration of its draft constitution of 14 February 1984.

These are questions that the Quirinal Treaty should not escape, also in view of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe that could take place in May 2022 after the French presidential elections on 10 and 24 April 2022.

It should be recalled that the idea of a Quirinal Treaty was launched under the inspiration of the Elysée Treaty signed in the past between France and Germany and that a proposal has recently been put forward for a Franco-Italian-German initiative that would bring together the priorities of the two treaties after the formation of the new German government and in view of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the reopening of work on the reform of the European Union."

Sandro GOZI, former Italian Secretary of State for European Affairs, now MEP (Renew Europe) and President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) writes:

“We are on the eve of an important step that will give France and Italy a leading role in Europe and a new leading role in meeting global challenges. The signing of the Quirinal Treaty will ensure a solid and structured basis for making the relationship between our two countries work, creating a series of working groups and more fluid exchanges.

There is today a great political convergence between Rome and Paris on European and international priorities. In the context of such a favourable relationship as the one established between President DRAGHI and President Emmanuel MACRON, it is therefore important to seal this special relationship with a treaty whose signature will give more strength to Italy and France to engage in joint action at the European and global level. There may still be some differences of opinion or disputes, but we will now have a set of new diplomatic tools and political mechanisms to prevent and resolve them. If we European states compete with each other, we all lose. This is why it is essential that Italy and France work together, hand in hand, starting with the development of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which will have to be followed by important reforms of the European Union.”

These two statements, reproduced here with the consent of their authors, were originally written on 17 November 2021 for the members of the "Italian Platform for the Conference on the Future of Europe.

You can read the French version here.

You can read the Italian version here.

Dear federalist friend,

As you may already know, UEF is implementing its project “#makeEuropeBloom: the Time is Now!” not only as a way to accompany and raise awareness of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), but also to contribute to building the New European Bauhaus.

Officially launched on Europe Day this year, #makeEuropeBloom consists primarily of painting murals at different peripheral European locations. Today, we are happy to share with you the video of the making of and the final results of our first artwork in cooperation with Marest Studio, Generalitat Valenciana and Ajuntament de València in Valencia (Spain), which was painted in parallel to UEF’s XXVII European Congress.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

UEF took on from the very beginning the fourfold challenge to make the European institutions commit to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe (which finally happened on 9 May, Europe Day); to ensure the institutional commitment to study with respect and attention the transformative proposals of European citizens and civil society; to advocate for this Conference to represent a real opportunity for the reform of the Treaties and the European institutions; and, finally, to involve and inform as much as possible the European citizens on this first major pan-European democratic exercise.

As a response to a call for proposals by the Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM) of the European Parliament, “#makeEuropeBloom: the Time is Now!” is an ambitious and audacious artistic project. “It is no coincidence that the time slot during which the project is being implemented matches the time span of the CoFoE. The aim of our project is to directly address European citizens in their living environment. Its very nature strives to actively accompany the CoFoE by helping to convince citizens to express themselves in this pan-European democratic process and bring forward the reformations that citizens are demanding towards a more democratic and sovereign Europe”, says Sandro GOZI, UEF President.

In addition, #makeEuropeBloom has also been devised as a response to the invitation “to set up a New European Bauhaus”, that Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, launched in her State of the Union Address of 16 September 2020. “I want NextGenerationEU to kickstart a European renovation wave and make our Union a leader in the circular economy. But this is not just an environmental or economic project: it needs to be a new cultural project for Europe. Every movement has its own look and feel. And we need to give our systemic change its own distinct aesthetic – to match style with sustainability. This is why we will set up a new European Bauhaus – a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together to make that happen”.

Arts to illuminate the European project
“UEF, combining arts and politics, strives with this project to remind all the peoples of Europe that the European integration project aims to develop their common living space and help them realise that their exchanges go far beyond the cold economic sphere, as a follow-up of the long lasting European common civilisation, by leaning on the citizens’ hearts, minds, senses and artistic sensibilities”, explains François MENNERAT, UEF Executive Board member and legal representative of the project.

A hand out to “lay” citizens
“The intention here is to reach out to those persons who appear to be persistently far away from the European perspective and from the debates triggered around the future of Europe. It thus targets, not the big capitals or the privileged quarters of urban centres, but rather deprived or peripheral areas that are still away from the European conversations. It seeks to involve those who live there, starting with the preparation of the events, in full co-operation with the local authorities and the elected representatives”, concludes François MENNERAT.

To reach its goal, UEF distributed ahead of our presence in Valencia an online survey, in which organisations of all kinds, from political parties, trade unions, neighbourhood councils to individual citizens contributed with their ideas and responses on the symbols, shapes and colours that could best capture their feelings and emotions about European democracy, which was the central theme of the pictorial work, and the future of Europe.

“With this mural, which will have a duration of at least seven years, not only has it been possible to create an innovative language by and for the EU from a contemporary and urban perspective, but it has also led to a reflection widely shared by ordinary citizens and sectors linked to education, tourism, culture, industry and think tanks on the EU and its institutions. This is how we believe we have set an example on how the future of Europe should be built”, states Alejandra ALMARCHA, UEF Secretariat Director.

The inauguration of our mural in Valencia was attended by neighbours of La Plata, an area between the sophisticated City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia and a modest working-class neighbourhood, as well as UEF President & MEP Sandro GOZI, urban artist Antonyo MAREST, UEF Vice-President & MEP Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Vice-President Luisa TRUMELLINI, Secretary-General Anna ECHTERHOFF and contemporary art curator Fran PICAZO.

Among the prominent European and local personalities that paid a visit: UEF Federal Committee member & Vice-President of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo CASTALDO, Co-Chair of the Conference on the Future of Europe & MEP Guy VERHOFSTADT, Mayor of Valencia Joan RIBÓ, Minister for Culture of the Government of Valencia Vicent MARZÀ, Director for Culture and Heritage of the Government of Valencia Carmen AMORAGA, former President of the European Parliament & current President of UEF Spain Enrique BARÓN, President of the European Movement in Spain Francisco ALDECOA, Regional Secretary for the European Union and External Relations of the Government of Valencia Joan CALABUIG, Vice-Director of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Madrid Juergen FOECKING and President of JEF Spain Doina STRATU.

Among all the remarkable speeches pronounced on that day, we would like to recall the Conference Co-Chair VERHOFSTADT’s encouraging words: “The EU is more than a single market or a political union, we share a common European culture.This kind of project must become Europe’s trademark. And I am convinced that the most innovative proposals to come out of the Conference will be those on how to boost European humanism, thought, art and lifestyle. […] Let’s spread our way of living and thinking through art in the framework of the CoFoE!”.

You can also share your ideas and feelings on the Valencia mural in the CoFoE digital platform, within the Democracy section.

*Media appearances:

1. El futuro de Europa florece ya desde la Nueva Bauhaus y la CoFoE, Alejandra ALMARCHA. Huffington Post.
2. Los federalistas europeos aterrizan en Valencia con un mural gigante, Lucas MARCO. elDiario.es.
3. L'artista Antonyo Marest pinta a València un mural dedicat a la democràcia, Montse CATALÀ. À Punt.
4. Valencia alberga el primer mural del proyecto Make Europe Bloom: the Time is Now!. Qué!
5. El artista alicantino Antonyo Marest pinta un mural en València financiado por el Parlamento Europeo, Carlos ARCAYA. Cadena SER Alicante.
6. València acull el primer mural del projecte ‘Make Europe Bloom’, sobre una de les façanes del Museu Faller. Ajuntament de València.
7. València estrena mural “Make Europe Bloom: the Time is now!. El Turista Digital.
8. València, Durham, Las Vegas: tras los pasos de Marest antes de ir Panamá, la próxima parada, Daniel TEROL. Alicante Plaza.

By Sandro Gozi, MEP and UEF President | Original here

The past year’s crisis underscored the need for a more united Europe. We must seize this opportunity to make the Conference on the Future of Europe a true forum with citizens to work together to achieve a more sovereign and democratic Europe, says UEF President and Renew MEP Sandro Gozi.

The European Community project is a successful example of cooperation. More than 60 years ago, the seed was sown for this great idea, this magnificent economic, political, and social tool that turned a continent, disjointed by the war, into a place of peace. 

The European Union’s (EU) effective response to the health, economic and social crisis caused by COVID-19 ought to be an accelerator of long overdue reforms of all kinds within the EU’s structure. 

The pandemic has made obvious the need to deepen European political integration if we do not want to act ‘ad hoc’ in future crises. Moreover, the lack of Community competences in certain areas is already untenable, as is the lack of the checks and balances that are inherent in any democracy to manage them. If we make progress in competences and division of powers, we will be moving towards a federal Europe. This is something that we have been pursuing since the Treaty of Rome. Among others, the purchase of vaccines, the digital certificate, or NextGenerationEU are the latest steps in this direction that leave no room for doubt. 

In that sense, we should understand the Conference on the Future of Europe as a means to an end. The Conference must make clear proposals and translate them into the Treaties. It is up to the European governments, institutions, parties and citizens to take the lead and make it a success. 

The issue of what progress should be made in terms of competences, and division of powers arises. Changes must be made in order to bring the federal horizon closer and thus increase the effectiveness of European democracy. 

The ideas collected in the Digital Platform and from the Citizens’ Panels cover a broad diversity of issues, but those more endorsed have one thing in common: citizens are asking for a more Democratic and Sovereign Europe. Contributors call for a restructuring of European institutions or even a federalisation of the European Union. 

Today, citizens need and want a strong, legitimate, and properly financed political Union that can tackle the great transnational challenges of our time, acting decisively in a wide range of policy areas, from climate change, growing social inequalities, health and migration to foreign affairs and defence. Citizens are calling for stronger pan-European democracy — real European political parties and movements and proper campaigns for European elections, based on the creation of a pan-European constituency and transnational electoral lists headed by the candidates for President of the European Commission. 

Europeans claim for a Union that is both a community of destiny and values, and a model for the new world now taking shape – an example of how countries can live in peace together, build cross-border and social solidarity, and protect human rights, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. 

In this context, reforms are crucial to enhance the democratic dimension of the EU by granting new direct powers to the European Parliament (EP): 

• The EP must have fiscal power. As in any democracy, the body representing the citizens should be able to decide on the Union’s fiscal resources, whereas today the EP finds itself in the anomalous situation of representing the citizens but having no power to tax and decide on the Union’s resources. This change is made urgent also by the need to secure the debt of NextGenerationEU through mechanisms that allow the creation of new resources without going through a unanimous decision of the states.
• The EP must have the power to decide on an equal footing with the Council on the coordination of the member states’ economic and employment policies.
• It should have legislative initiative power in addition to the Commission’s power of initiative in cases of Commission inaction.
• Its role must be strengthened in relation to the procedure for revising the Treaties.

The past year’s crisis made obvious the need for a more united Europe. Hence, we must seize this opportunity to make the Conference on the Future of Europe a true forum with citizens to work together to achieve a more sovereign and democratic Europe. These reforms will create the basis for real democratic political life at European level, and at the same time a Europe that is effective in its action. The time to do it is now: now or never. Let us not waste this opportunity.

Coalition Treaty between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals in Germany published

With the title "Dare to make more Progress - Alliance for freedom, justice and sustainability", the representatives of the Sozial Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN and Freien Demokraten (FDP) presented their Coalition Treaty on 24 November 2021, after around a month of negotiations. The 178-page Treaty is intended to form the basis for cooperation between the three parties, which want to build the federal government for the next four years.

The seventh of a total of 9 chapters deals with "Germany's responsibility for Europe and the world." As in view of inhabitants largest Member State, Germany should assume its special responsibility in a serving understanding for the EU as a whole. This means that German interests should be defined in the light of European interests, according to the three parties.

One of the most ambitious goals of the so-called "traffic light coalition" is the further development of the European Union in crucial areas: for example, the Conference on the Future of Europe should lead to a constitutional convention and to a further development into a European Federation, organized decentrally also according to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights. "The Union of European Federalists very much welcomes the clear commitment of the coalition partners to the creation of a European Federation. The call for the creation of a European Federation is our core petition that we, together with our Sections, have been calling for since our foundation 75 years ago," says Sandro GOZI, President of the UEF and MEP. "It seems that the coalition partners have read our position papers, as the coalition treaty contains further UEF positions, which one can find, summarized most recently in our Appeal 'Our federal Europe - sovereign and democratic.' This Appeal has already been supported and signed by more than 500 high-ranking politicians and personalities and is still open for signatures. I invite the representatives of the parties of the coalition treaty but also the representatives of the other pro-European parties in the German Bundestag to sign the Appeal."

Furthermore, the coalition partners intend to strengthen the role of the European Parliament, especially the right of legislative initiative. The right of legislative initiative has been requested by the UEF at the last Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). The coalition treaty contains also the call of a European electoral law with strong Spitzenkandidaten and transnational lists. "A unified European electoral law with transnational lists will lead to the formation of real European parties" underlines Sandro GOZI. "The clear positioning in the coalition treaty is encouraging with regard to future negotiations in the Council. In the European Parliament, we are currently discussing the Report on the Electoral Law that UEF Vice-President and MEP Domènec RUIZ DEVESA has drafted as Rapporteur."

Moreover, there is a positive particular focus on democracy and the rule of law in the coalition treaty. The European Commission is called upon to use and enforce existing rule of law instruments more consistently and in a timely manner. Liberal democracies are to be empowered to better fend off disinformation, fake news, campaigns, propaganda from as well as manipulation from within and outside the country. Unanimity in the Council should to be replaced by majority decisions, at least in foreign and security policy and the European External Action Service should be reformed and strengthened; a true EU foreign minister should replace the High Representative. Priority should be given to the Community method, but where necessary, progress is to be made only with individual Member States.

The calls and commitments towards a strong European Union and to European sovereignty in the coalition treaty of the Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals coincide in many points with the positions of the UEF. The goals are ambitious and promising. Germany can thus bring new momentum and new impetus to the necessary further deepening of the European Union. The coalition treaty has thus also raised hopes and expectations. The task now is to turn words into deeds.

You can read the German version here.

As of 1 November, Greens/EFA MEP Daniel Freund will take over the presidency of the Spinelli Group from Social-Democrat (S&D) MEP Brando Benifei. The Spinelli Group is a network of 72 federalist-minded Members of the European Parliament aiming to reinvigorate the endeavor for strengthening and democratization of the European Union.

Daniel Freund, new President of the Spinelli Group, comments:

“I would like to thank Brando Benifei for his great work as the president, pushing for a more federal Europe. As Spinelli Group we want to use the Conference on the Future of Europe to inoculate our continental democracy with strong reforms against overstretching in next crises. We want strong reforms for truly European elections, EU investments in a digital and climate friendly future, a Europe that speaks with one voice in the world. We invite all to join our campaign to make Europe stronger by making it more democratic!

The EU is being held back by antiquated decision making processes. We need to get rid of unanimity in the EU Council and we have to push for own initiative rights for the European Parliament. With a European second vote for transnational lists we could make sure citizens have a stronger say which lead candidate is the next Commission president in 2024. We have to make clear that more democracy is the answer to the current crises rocking the European Union.“

Follow our group:
https://x.com/spinelligroup

Read our manifesto of 2018 here.

Read our manifesto for the Conference on the Future of Europe here.

• Strengthening democracy with a second vote in EU elections for transnational lists, a right of initiative for the EP
• Reforming the Economic and Monetary Union and investing in European common goods
• Protecting EU fundamental rights
• Increasing the European Union’s ability to act by ending national vetos
• Fostering European citizenship and a truly European public sphere
• Ensuring a proper follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe

Background: history of the Spinelli group

Named after Altiero Spinelli (1907–1986), founder of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and a founding father of the European integration, the Spinelli Group was founded on 15 September 2010 in the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels by former Belgium prime minister and current MEP Guy VERHOFSTADT, former co-chair of the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) Group in the European Parliament Daniel COHN-BENDIT, former MEP Sylvie GOULARD (ALDE) and former European Parliament Vice-President Isabelle DURANT (Greens/EFA).

The nEUres project, Nonviolent European Resistance, was born in October 2019 from the Nonviolent Movement in Italy. Its purpose was that of spreading information on the history of Nonviolent resistance to Nazi-fascim in Europe among young people as a starting point for reflection on Civil Society. Contrary to popular belief, Nonviolent resistance does not mean only pacifism, but also the ability to be proactive on a daily basis through refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands, with the aim of influencing the legislation or government policy. Refusal and opposition are characterised by the use of non-violent techniques such as boycotts, picketing, non-payment of taxes, and failure or refusal to cooperate.

Passing through six countries, Italy, Austria, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Spain, it was possible to impart knowledge, and encourage a transnational discussion on the forms of organised and unorganized Nonviolent resistance to Nazi-fascism. The educators responsible for sharing this knowledge were trained during the first of the three planned modules, which, ideally, are expected to end with an international conference in Turin.

Despite the fact that the pandemic forced nEUres partners to resort to hybrid and/or remote ways of conducting both the workshops and the 72-hour training course, the partner organisations achieved the training objectives. The workshops dedicated to the younger generation focused on ways to reinforce Nonviolent resistance: to impart historical knowledge of cases of Nonviolent resistance in the 20th century; to enhance the capacity for critical reflection and reading of historical events from a Nonviolent perspective; to improve the analysis of conflicts, power dynamics and leadership in order to facilitate action on Nonviolent principles and techniques.

nEUres builds on Gandhi's teachings through his satyagraha (force of truth), distinguishing itself from the passive Nonviolence movements of those who prefer not to intervene and follows Martin Luther King Jr.'s six principles of Nonviolence. But nEUres and the values of freedom, peace, justice, democracy and coexistence are deeply European. We see these Values in the actions of the men and women who laid the foundations for contemporary Europe. The protagonists of this heritage would today have a European passport. Examples of these are: Jan Palach, a socialist student from Czechia who died by setting himself on fire in protest as a symbol of the anti-Soviet resistance of the Prague Spring in 1968; Hannah Arendt from Germany who, through writing, resisted and recounted Nazi persecution; Marek Edelman from Poland, an activist and politician who took part in the Warsaw ghetto uprising and later became a militant in Solidarnosc; Celeste Caeiro, a Portuguese worker, who distributed and inserted carnations into the barrels of the rifles during the 1974 revolution. These are just a few of the Founding Mothers and Fathers of the idea of Europe as a project of hope and peace.

What does it mean to be Nonviolent in Europe today?

Today, the Nonviolent struggle means defending life, dignity, and the rights of all human beings. The fight for peace is also the fight for a more sustainable and solidarity-based future, as well as the fight against climate change. The latter started with Alexander Langer, one of the first to take the issue of ecological transition to Europe. Today, Nonviolence means the strikes of young people on Fridays for Future, a global movement for climate and environmental justice driven by young Europeans. Greta Thunberg, sitting outside the Swedish parliament during school hours in her "School Strike for the Climate" was the first to set the example. Nonviolence today means opposing exploitation, as Irene reminds us in the Italian workshop "an example of Nonviolent resistance today are the worker- riders who struggle to obtain decent working conditions". Nonviolence today means opposing sovereignist and populist logics, for a Europe of solidarity and welcoming.
It is "the everyday struggle of migrants against xenophobia", says Muscas to his companions of the Hungarian workshop. Dignity and equality are the keywords.

Nonviolent resistance today is, therefore, also opposition to war and violence, racism and all forms of persecution, exploitation and oppression. It is fundamental to oppose weapons and armed organisations, and it is imperative to choose the path of truth to achieve peace. nEUres aims, through its activities, to keep alive the memory of the past in order to look with more clarity towards the future and to have the strength to act against violence in the present. The beliefs on which this project rests can be traced back to the words of Aldo Capitini, founder of the Nonviolent Movement, who stated in 1940 "to work for a liberal and social Europe, without conservatism and particularism […] for tomorrow (regardless of the outcome) the principle of a supranational economic and cultural community". In 1940 Europe was in the midst of a world war. It was unthinkable to talk about peace, and even less so a Union of States. Yet, from Ventotene to Brussels, Europe is humanity's
greatest peace project and boasts more than 70 years of peace in one of the most fragmented and quarrelsome continents.

Today, more than ever, the European Union must be democratic, federalist and a beacon for the green and digital transitions. The crises brought upon by the financial crash of 2008, the migration flows of 2015- 2016, the rise of national populism, the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Covid-19 pandemic or climate change require a paradigm shift for the survival of the Union from national selfishness to a revival of the project of Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, that in a bitter-tasting spring like this one, wrote the Ventotene Manifesto. The manifesto was then spread across the continent thanks to the commitment of some colleagues, including Ursula Hirschmann and Ada Rossi. It is a forward-looking manifesto, which has remained relevant 81 years after its first edition and has the great merit of bringing together the ideas of three great philosophers, Kant, Robbins and Lord Lothian and of proposing new policies that have given birth to the European Federalist Movement.

A movement that was not born in the palaces of power, but within the walls of a cold house on a small island where dozens of opponents had been sent into exile by the fascist regime. A project born from a common conscience, from young people who dedicated their lives to build an idea that today lies in our hands and is our responsibility to defend: the idea of a Free and United Europe.

Written by Cecilia Comastri, UEF Project Assistant - July 2021

You can read the article in:

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Italian

North Macedonian

Romanian

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