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Brussels, 11 January 2021

European Parliament (EP) President David SASSOLI has passed away at age 65. 

Born in Florence on 30 May 1956, SASSOLI studied political science before starting work as a newspaper and news agency journalist.

The father of two began working for national broadcaster RAI in 1992, rising through the ranks to become a familiar face for millions of Italians, presenting the evening news on the main channel, of which he also became deputy-director.

Mr. SASSOLI, a member of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, has been a member of the EP since 2009. He was elected vice president five years later and has led the body since 2019.

As Parliament President, SASSOLI was a largely conciliatory voice, working to help advance the agenda of von der Leyen, the Commission’s first woman President, including the European Green Deal, the ambitious package of measures to combat climate change.

During his mandate SASSOLI called for a new  “political pact” with other institutions to give shape and content to the request of a new Europe, improving the Spitzenkandidat process, enhancing the Parliament’s voice and powers and enacting reforms and treaty revision to strengthen European democracy.

“We want the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) to open up a new phase, a phase of participation, but also of change. To change the rules, because we have seen in this year and a half that there cannot be taboos. European democracy must be more efficient and effective. The European Parliament is very ambitious on this.”, said the EP President SASSOLI at the European Youth Event in the framework of the CoFoE.

As a committed European, he always believed that our future lies in a democratic and sovereign Europe, and pushed for a new European democratic transformation.

In 2020, Sandro GOZI, MEP for Renew Europe and President of the Union of European Federalist (UEF), handed over the nearly 1,200 signatures of the ‘1,000 x Federal Europe‘ campaign to David SASSOLI. With President SASSOLI, we shared the need and urgency to provide the Union with new genuine own resources for the European revival. 

That same year, the UEF sent an open letter to MEPs calling on the EP to propose the required amendment to the Treaties and asking the other EU institutions to commence the related process of treaty revision. The EP President thanked UEF for the commitment to the European project, he stressed on the need to have a successful CoFoE and on the key role that the Parliament, Civil Society and European Youth has on it.

“UEF is deeply saddened by the terrible loss of a great European and an outstanding President of the European Parliament. He has been a member of the Movimiento Federalista Europeo in Rome, since Mr. SASSOLI was a convinced federalist, a champion of European democracy, values and integration. We commend his efforts to build a strong house of European democracy, and express our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. Riposa in pace.”, said UEF President and MEP Sandro GOZI.

Contact:
Anna Echterhoff
Secretary General

Brussels, 15 December 2021

UEF celebrates its 75th anniversary

UEF-President Sandro GOZI: “We must show the same courage and the same determination of our founders and push for a new European democratic transformation.”

These days, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) celebrates its 75th anniversary! It marks 75 years of bringing together generations of passionate European federalists who, since the end of World War II, have been campaigning for a united and federal Europe.

The organisation was founded in Paris on 15 and 16 December 1946 based on the conviction that peace for future generations could only be secured by the formation of a European federation. The driving idea “unity in diversity” was the basis on which European federalists thought the division of the European continent, that had caused the suffering and destruction of the two World Wars, could be overcome.

The European federalists are still convinced today that only a common effort made by citizens working towards this goal could and can create a peaceful and democratic Europe that guarantees freedom and human rights. At the Congress of Europe in The Hague in 1948, the federalists had an opportunity to reshape the Europe of their time. Back then, federalists fought to put over their vision on the future of Europe, and important federalist elements were also agreed – such as the decision to draw up a binding Charter of Fundamental Human Rights and to establish a supranational Human Rights Court.

The UEF became a leading voice in the European unification process and from the outset advocated for the strengthening of the European Communities, later the European Union. The main goals of the European federalists included the abolition of borders between European States, the introduction of a European currency, direct elections as well as the institutional strengthening of the European Parliament, the introduction of majority decisions in the Council of Ministers, the adoption of European fundamental and human rights and the reinforcement of European foreign and security policy. All these goals have been at least partially achieved in recent years.

On top of the ideas mentioned above, the realisation of a constitution that would lead to a European federal state is the European federalists’ key call. However, this has not been still achieved. The process of constitutionalising the European Union was essentially set in motion by Altiero Spinelli in 1984 with the so-called “Spinelli Treaty”. This led to a revision of the Treaties and served as a basis for the European Community and the Constitutional Treaty later on.

Today, the UEF’s work for a further deepening of the European Union and its transformation into a true European federation continues through the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). The Conference provides all citizens, and especially the younger generations, with the unique opportunity to make their voice heard and to advocate for the Europe they want by shaping it with their ideas. As European federalists, we must be the leading voice calling for a united and federal Europe.

The CoFoE is particularly special for UEF. For the first time in its 75 years of existence, the UEF has taken a seat at the conference table and can directly feed the political decision- making process with its positions. UEF is part of the delegation of the European Movement International (EMI) in the organised civil society group. It is represented by its Secretary General Anna Echterhoff. With President and MEP Sandro GOZI and Vice-President and MEP Domènec RUIZ DEVESA in the group of MEPs, the UEF is represented with three voices in total.

“Federalism means respect of national and regional identities, promotion of political pluralism, efficiency of the public action, transnational politics and it is a multiplier of rights and opportunities for all. 75 years after, we must show the same courage and the same determination of our founders and push for a new European democratic transformation: we will never give up on this”, underlines President and MEP Sandro GOZI.

Thus, the UEF has the historic opportunity to lead the debate on the reform of the Union towards a democratic, federal entity that is close to citizens and can ensure the protection and promotion of our values. Recent developments show that a stronger pro-European sentiment is emerging in several Member States, which politically strengthens the work of the Conference itself. The UEF will continue to be the driving force for change by communicating its ideas and proposals and fueling the discussions with solutions to strengthen the European Union. For 75 years, UEF has put itself to the service of the European unification and it will continue to do so.

UEF 75th anniversary with UEF President Sandro Gozi

Contact:
Anna Echterhoff
Secretary General

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

Brussels, 26 November, 2021

Dear federalist friend, 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.

Contact:
Anna Echterhoff
Secretary General

Statements by Pier Virgilio DASTOLI and Sandro GOZI

Brussels, 23 November, 2021

Dear federalist friend,

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 defense, 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 ratifications.

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”.

UEF Secretariat

Brussels, 19 November, 2021

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.

Do not hesitate to like and leave your comments below the video!

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.

Click here to learn more on #makeEuropeBloom. New locations will be unveiled soon!

*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.

València, Durham, Las Vegas: tras los pasos de Marest antes de ir Panamá, la próxima parada, Daniel TEROL. Alicante Plaza.

UEF Secretariat