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Federalists Events – April 2021

by admin, posted in EVENTS
Dear federalist friends,

We hope you are all well and enjoying the springtime wherever you are in Europe!

We would like to update you on our next project events! In the context of our Crossoroads EU project we are glad and proud to invite you to attend four interesting sessions, in Spanish, co-organised by our partner Fundacion Xul.

The events will address the topic of Participatory Democracy in the European Union with dialogues at a national and an international level. The participants, in the second phase of the events, will also have the chance to develop the necessary skills to use Digital Platforms for democratic engagement – Decidim.

We kindly invite you to participate and to spread the voice among your network and friends.

Warm regards and see you later,
 
UEF Secretariat

Register here

IMAGINING THE FUTURE OF EUROPE: PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
In which Europe would you like to live in 10 or 20 years’ time? The Conference on the Future of Europe will begin on May 9, Europe Day, to define the direction that the European Union should take. Citizens and civil society will be able to give their opinion on the Europe they want and thus contribute to shaping its future in the medium and long term through a participatory forum. UEF and Xul Foundation invite you to participate in this process with Crossroads Europe, a European funded project, to collect proposals and opinions on the Europe we want in the field of participatory democracy and representation. These contributions will be collected in a document of policy recommendations to be submitted to the Conference on the Future of Europe. If you want to get involved and contribute, if you wonder how to develop participatory processes in times of pandemic, if you want to broaden your knowledge on citizen participation, if you want to contribute to the construction of Europe and to give your opinion on the challenges it faces and its future, we are counting on you. Do you want to rethink Europe with us? We have planned a series of spaces for dialogue and reflection, as well as virtual workshops that will take place in April. 

Fundacion Xul The Spanish non-profit organization Xul Foundation, is one of the nine partners involved in the European project Crossroads Europe, led by the Union of European Federalists, which aims to promote cross-cutting dialogue on the construction of the EU around four thematic axes: climate change, international community, democracy and governance, and security and freedom.

Carte blanche: Faut-il bâtir une souveraineté numérique nationale et européenne?

by admin, posted in ARTICLES

Par Francisco Vigalondo, Marcel Vanden Clooster, Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, Nezka FigeljUnion des Fédéralistes européens.

L’établissement d’une Fédération européenne avec une politique numérique commune supranationale permettrait de sauvegarder l’unité du marché européen et de prendre en considération le souci des citoyens attachés au respect de la vie privée et à la diversité culturelle.

Lire la suite sur Le Soir.

PRESS RELEASE: The Conference on the Future of Europe gets under way

by admin, posted in NEWS
Today the European Parliament gave the green light to the Conference on the Future of Europe. The UEF welcomes the reaching of an agreement that finally opens the opportunity to work for a new Europe together with the citizens. For the forces that believe in a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe, this is the time for commitment and mobilisation.
 Welcoming with relief the long-awaited launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the UEF underlines the importance of the historical moment and the political challenges that the European Union is facing and recalls the need for the Conference to be a moment of confrontation to bring together citizens, leading exponents, NGOs, trade unions, and representatives of national and European institutions, to debate and decide how to go about adapting our institutions in a way that will complete the building of a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe.

“At watershed moments in history, communities, to avoid sliding into an irreversible decline, need to be able to adapt their institutions, equipping them to govern new circumstances” says Sandro Gozi, President of UEF and MEP. “This is what we need to do today in the European Union: making the Next Generation EU facility permanent and creating a federal budget, so that the EU can share fiscal sovereignty with the Member States; and acquiring new competences, also through extending the ordinary legislative procedure, in the field of health, economic policy, foreign policy and defence, to make Europe a global leader in the defence of fundamental values and the rule of law, a model for a socially sustainable ecological transition and a global player for a new multilateralism.”

“This is why the Conference must be able to discuss without taboos not only which European policies need to be strengthened, but also which treaty reforms are needed to equip the EU with the necessary tools to act effectively and incisively“, continues Domenec Ruiz Devesa, UEF Vice-President and MEP.

“In this regard, the reform of the European electoral system will also be fundamental, in order to uniform it, to create pan-European constituencies with transnational lists, starting the birth of a real European political space and public debate“, concludes Sandro Gozi. “Now is the time for debate and action, also to overcome the limits of the Conference’s governance, which the Council wanted to weaken with the principle of consensus to reach conclusions. We need a common front of all the forces that believe in a sovereign and democratic Europe, in the European Parliament, in national parliaments and governments, in civil society. It starts a process that we believe should lead to building the federal Europe we need. And the time to do it is now: now or never. Let us not waste this opportunity.”
END
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity. For more than 70 years UEF has been a leading voice in the promotion of European unity and an early campaigner for key milestones in the development of the European Communities and then the European Union. With 25 national sections and over 400 local groups across Europe, UEF promotes a federal Europe among citizens and political representatives at all levels of government. More on: www.federalists.eu.

PRESS CONTACT:
Anna Echterhoff
anna.echterhoff@federalists.euUnion of European Federalists [UEF]
Rue d’Arlon 53
B-1000 Bruxelles
+32 (0)2 508-3030

CIVIL SOCIETY DAYS | 1-5 March 2021

by admin, posted in EVENTS

Dear federalist friends,

As a civil society organisation we are sending this email to involve you in the CIVIL SOCIETY DAYS 2021, organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), fully online from 1 to 5 March 2021.

The online round of events Civil Society Days 2021 – A Sustainable Recovery for the Future of Europe’s Citizens is intended to be a public forum bringing together European citizens, civil society organisations and the European institutions. While delivering on the high expectations of its citizens, Europe must ensure that the ecological and digital transitions are built on the values of solidarity and human rights, social justice, equality, and on education, culture, migration, democracy, participation and entrepreneurship.

The EESC Liaison Group is organising 8 different workshops on: 

  • Multilevel sustainable democracy in Europe
  • Social economy and youth entrepreneurship for a sustainable recovery
  • The role of education and culture in the sustainable recovery for Europe
  • The future of work in the well-being economy
  • Youth activism, systemic change and recovery in Europe
  • A social Green Deal for a sustainable recovery
  • The role of key civil society groups in the renovation wave
  • The role and economic value of volunteers in the road to recovery and beyond

Register HERE to join the sessions!

#CivSocDays

Warm federalists regards,

Anna ECHTERHOFF
Secretary-General

Union of European Federalists
Rue d’Arlon 53
B-1040 Bruxelles
+32 (0)2 508-3030

PRESS RELEASE: President Sandro GOZI: We need to make full use of the potential of the Conference on the Future of Europe – No CoFoE light!

by admin, posted in NEWS

Brussels, February 5, 2021

“The Conference was not meant to be a general debate on topics that we already discuss every day, but to design a real and courageous future for our Europe and for us European citizens!”, states UEF President Sandro GOZI.

In a meeting of the EU ambassadors, the Member States adopted their revised position on the Conference on the Future of Europe on 3 February. The document was proposed by the Portuguese Presidency.

“It seems that the Council does not understand: the Conference on the Future of Europe, as envisaged by the European Parliament is more necessary than ever.The methods for direct citizen participation are disappointing”, so the assessment of GOZI. “Where have the citizens’ agoras that the Parliament proposed gone?” asks GOZI. “There also seems to be a ‘great Chinese wall’ between the Conference and Article 48 on treaty revision”.

The Council document includes a tripartite presidency of the Conference, consisting of the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission and the President of the Council. However, the day-to-day business would be in the hands of an executive committee in which the three institutions would also be equally represented and take decisions by consensus.

“Clearly, the Council is making a mistake by not being bold enough on the governance, functioning of the Conference and new methods of citizens participation. This is not what we federalists were looking for”, says GOZI. “Unfortunately, this seems to be the only possible way out after the Council refused to agree to the solution proposed by the European Parliament”, regrets GOZI. “Two are the most important things now: to make sure that it’s the Parliament’s representative in the executive committee who leads the work of the Conference and, more specifically, that of the Plenary. But above all, we need to keep advocating for the outcome of the Conference to be totally open in terms of possible new policies and Treaty revisions”, concludes GOZI.

The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity. For more than 70 years UEF has been a leading voice in the promotion of European unity and an early campaigner for key milestones in the development of the European Communities and then the European Union. With 25 national sections and over 400 local groups across Europe, UEF promotes a federal Europe among citizens and political representatives at all levels of government. More on: www.federalists.eu.

PRESS CONTACT:
Anna Echterhoff
anna.echterhoff@federalists.eu
Union of European Federalists [UEF]
Rue d’Arlon 53
B-1000 Bruxelles
+32 (0)2 508-3030

Quel fédéralisme pour les États-Unis d’Europe ?

by admin, posted in ARTICLES

Nous n’avons d’autre choix valable que le fédéralisme. Nos deux institutions fédérales, la Cour de justice de l’UE et la Banque centrale européenne le montrent, en remplissant leur mission. Par contre, la méthode intergouvernementale de l’UE a trop souvent montré ses limites, ses lenteurs et son inefficacité.

Une carte blanche de Jean Marsia et Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, pour l’Union des Fédéralistes Européens. Cet article a été aussi co-signé par Nezka Figelj, Robert Verschooten et Paul Frix.

Lire la suite sur La Libre

The SPD Proposal of a 28th Army: Towards a European “Dual Army”?

by admin, posted in EVENTS

28 January 2021 – from 17:00 to 19:00 hrs

Online event on the ZOOM platform:
Please register here

Presentation of the Proposal:

Fritz Felgentreu  Member of Parliament, Deutscher Bundestag (Member of the Defence Committee and Spokesperson for the 1st Committee of Inquiry)
Comments on the Proposal:

Domenico Moro  CSF Coordinator for Defence and Security Area

Panelists:

Brando Benifei(tbc)  MEP, President of the Spinelli Group
Gen. Vincenzo Camporini Scientific Advisor to the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and former Chief of Defence Staff of Italy
Maj. Enrico della Gatta  Strategic Communication Advisor to the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC)
Daniel Fiott  Security and Defence Editor at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
Domènec Ruiz Deveza  MEP, Vice President of the Union of European Federalists
Webinar Coordinator:

Flavio Brugnoli  Director of the CSF