Category: INFO

Support the Future of Europe: Join the UEF Europe Donation Campaign

by , posted in INFO

Fellow Federalists,

The Union of European Federalists, the umbrella organisation of UEF Belgium, is continuing its vital work to build a federal, sovereign, and democratic Europe. To ensure this mission thrives, UEF Europe is currently running a dedicated donation campaign, and we are reaching out to ask for your support.

Donations are crucial to the daily operations of the UEF and are essential for keeping the federalist movement strong and active across the continent.

As a token of gratitude, the campaign offers supporters the opportunity to receive special gift packages based on their contribution. If you choose to participate, you can receive exclusive rewards, including:

  • Digital toolkits: A set of graphics and images ready to be used for social media advocacy.

  • Federalist merchandise: Exclusive postcards, stickers, and UEF pins.

  • Educational materials: A unique map comparing a Federal Europe with the current European Union.

  • Exclusive Art: High-quality printed posters featuring Lorenzo Epis’ inspiring artworks for a federal Europe.

Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference in advancing our shared goals.

Stand with us and help shape the future of Europe. You can explore the reward tiers and make your contribution directly on the UEF Europe website: https://federalists.eu/donate/

If you have any questions regarding the donation campaign or the gift packages, please do not hesitate to contact the UEF Europe team at donate@federalists.eu or the Secretariat at secretariat@federalists.eu.

Thank you for your continued dedication, support, and federalist spirit!

Convocation à l’Assemblée Générale 2026 de l’UEF-Belgique

by , posted in EVENTS, INFO, NEWS

Chers Amis, Chers Membres,

 

Nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à l’Assemblée Générale (AG) annuelle de notre association qui se tiendra le samedi 20 juin 2026 de 10h30 à 12h30 au Press Club Brussels Europe, 95 Rue Froissart à 1040 Bruxelles.

Au-delà des questions statutaires, nous souhaiterions que cette réunion soit aussi un moment de réflexion politique. Nous avons invité à cet effet le député européen, Yvan Verougstraete, pour nous parler du thème « Faut-il européaniser l’énergie et la défense? ».

En espérant vous voir participer nombreuses et nombreux, merci de confirmer votre présence par courrier électronique, téléphone, SMS ou WhatsApp (0460.76.01.84). En cas d’empêchement, merci d’avance de nous envoyer une procuration.

Avec nos meilleures salutations,

 

Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero

Secrétaire général

Michele Ciavarini Azzi

Président

Pour plus d’informations, consultez ce lien: Convocation à l’Assemblée Générale

2025 Federal Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) event in the Hellenic Parliament

by , posted in EVENTS, INFO

Greece hosts, for the first time, the meeting of the Union of European Federalists, with a landmark event in the Hellenic Parliament that underscores its upgraded role in shaping the new European agenda.

Under the central theme “For a stronger, more democratic, and inclusive European Union – towards a European federation,” the event highlighted the need for bold institutional reforms and for a renewed European vision capable of responding to the challenges of our time.

The event was organized by the UEF, the Spinelli Group, and the UEF Greece (EEEnOE), marking a key moment for the European debate on the future of the Union and the transition towards a stronger, more democratic, and inclusive European Federation.

A special highlight of the event were the video messages delivered by Sandro Gozi, Member of the European Parliament and Honorary President of the UEF, and Josep Borrell, former High Representative of the EU and former President of the European Parliament, both of whom emphasized the historic significance of European integration and the need for political courage to complete it.

The Federal Committee proceedings continued on 22 and 23 November in Piraeus, at the building housing the Historic Library of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation. The sessions focused on developing concrete proposals and initiatives in preparation for the organization’s future strategy, ahead of the pan-European Congress to be held in early 2026 in Spain.

The meetings in Athens and Piraeus were institutionally supported by the Municipality of Piraeus, represented by Deputy Mayors Mr. Dimitris Karydis and Ms. Andriana Zarakeli, acting on behalf and with the continuous support of the Mayor of Piraeus. The active involvement of the municipal authority underscored the importance the Municipality places on hosting international institutional processes and on strengthening Piraeus’ role as a hub for dialogue and cooperation at the European level.

Find more information on the federalist.eu website: A Stronger, More Democratic Europe: UEF Federal Committee Opens in the Hellenic Parliament – Union of European Federalists

Sous pression, l’Otan et l’UE sont-elles en mesure de faire face aux intrusions russes?

by , posted in ARTICLES, INFO

L’Europe fait face à une augmentation inquiétante des intrusions aériennes russes. Entre défis militaires, risques d’escalade et nécessité d’un bouclier anti-drones coordonné, l’UE et l’Otan cherchent la bonne réponse pour protéger leur espace aérien.

Lire l’article complet ici ou le télécharger si vous préférez.

OTAN_UE_Intrusions russes_Jean_Domenico_Francois

L’Assemblée Générale de l’UEF.be s’est tenue en présentiel ce samedi 8 juin 2024 au Press Club Brussels Europe

by , posted in EVENTS, INFO, NEWS
Président: Michele Ciavarini Azzi; Administrateur Délégué en charge de la communication: Lucian Onisei; Secrétaire Général: Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero; Trésorier: Christian De Bruyne
From left to right: Christian De Bruyne (Trésorier), Michele Ciavarini Azzi (Président), Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero (Secrétaire Général), Lucian Alexandru Onisei (Administrateur Délégué)

Après avoir approuvé les comptes pour 2023, élu le nouveau conseil d’administration et fait rapport des activités de l’ASBL, nous avons pu écouter et débattre avec le Ministre d’État et ancien Député européen Gérard Deprez.

En introduction G. Deprez suggère ne de pas faire une guerre de nominalisme et d’estampille sur le ‘fédéralisme européen’. Ce qui est important, ce sont les procédures et les mécanismes qui permettent d’avancer vers le fédéralisme européen, direction indispensable pour éviter un enlisement de l’Europe communautaire.

Il relève ensuite l’environnement extérieur de l’UE qui est imprévisible et dangereux (cf. guerre de la Russie en Ukraine et situation au Moyen-Orient). Cela a aussi des conséquences internes, notamment les Fake News et ingérences de pays tiers qui visent à déstabiliser l’Union européenne.

Gérard Deprez évoque ensuite les autres grands risques pour l’UE :

  • Le décrochage économique de l’UE vis-à-vis des États-Unis et de la Chine ;
  • La transition énergétique qui doit être rendue acceptable, en particulier pour le monde agricole et une partie de la classe ouvrière précarisée ;
  • La poussée de l’extrême droite dans plusieurs pays dont la France (à près de 40%), l’Allemagne, l’Italie, les Pays-Bas et en Flandre ;
  • La réalité de l’immigration et de l’élargissement avec un corollaire délicat quant à l’acceptation ou non de l’Ukraine et/ou de la Turquie dans l’UE ;
  • Les agressions physiques du personnel politique (cf. en Slovaquie, au Danemark et ailleurs).

G. Deprez suggère deux pistes d’action vers le fédéralisme européen:

D’abord, il faut en finir avec l’unanimité qui paralyse l’intégration. Pourquoi, à l’instar des « Pouvoirs spéciaux » qui existent en Belgique, ne pas permettre à l’Exécutif européen (la Commission), de prendre des dispositions en cas d’urgence (cf. pandémie), pour une période déterminée et adoptées à la majorité qualifiée ?

Ensuite, comme l’élargissement aura lieu (attention à ceux qui veulent exacerber les frustrations liées aux lenteurs des adhésions), les Fédéralistes européens doivent se battre pour des ressources propres. Il faut revenir à la légitimité originelle des Traités mais en utilisant les outils modernes : part de la TVA, taxe carbone, taxe sur les transactions financières, emprunt européen, assiette commune sur l’impôt des sociétés (ACCIS), etc.

Enfin, G. Deprez insiste sur le besoin d’autonomie stratégique européenne dans les domaines de la santé, la défense et l’énergie.

Les membres de l’UEF.be interviennent ensuite, questionnent et débattent avec G. Deprez sur l’état de droit dans l’UE (cf. Présidence hongroise), sur le rôle des migrants pour l’économie européenne, sur la légitimité démocratique de la Commission, et sur le rôle et impacts démocratiques des médias sociaux.

Petition “For a federal Europe, sovereign and democratic” #moreEUROPEnow – Kit of action

by , posted in INFO, NEWS
Dear FC-Members,
Dear Presidents and Secretary Generals of the Sections,

 The return of the war in Europe, with Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine, forces us as Europeans to speed up the process of building a true European sovereignty and a strong and democratic European power, directly legitimised by the European citizens. This is necessary in order to build a true European defence, an energy union, a true foreign policy, a migration policy, etc…
 
As federalists, our best contribution at this stage could be to focus on the Conference on the Future of Europe, so that it includes in its conclusions the need to open a Convention to amend the Treaties, on the basis of the demands that have clearly emerged from the national and European citizens’ panels and from the digital platform. As you know, federalist indications (including our indications as federalist organisations) were predominant; all the more so in such a dramatic moment marked by the return of war, the Conference cannot ignore them.
 
This is why I propose you an exceptional effort over the next few weeks to collect signatures on this petition below.

It is published on Change.org (LINK), and addressed to the Board of the CoFoE.

Our goal must be to collect between 15.000 and 30.000 signatures by 20 April. They will be instrumental in putting pressure on the Council (where some governments are trying to block the results of the Conference) and in supporting the European Parliament, which, on the contrary, is trying to fight for the opening of a convention.   
 
Change.org is a platform on which gathering support is very easy.
We can upload several language versions, which remain linked, so the signatures add up; it encourages the circulation of the link to the petition, connects well to social networks, highlights partial results, important signatures, and it is really friendly.
 
I strongly invite you to sign and share the link of the petition.
Below, in the communication from the Secretariat, you will find information on  how to use social networks as well to spread the link and the invitation to sign. Further info and meetings will follow, to coordinate our engagement on this common action. I would also like to kindly ask you to consider translating the text into your own languages, to further enhance its circulation.
 
The time to make a federal Europe, sovereign and democratic is now: let us all engage in this battle, trying to live up to our historical responsibilities. 
With federalist regards,

Sandro GOZI
President
Information about the petition

WHO IS THE PETITION ADDRESSED TO?

Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe

  1. Guy Verhofstadt, Co-chair of the CoFoE, Member of the European Parliament
  2. Dubravka Šuica, Co-chair of the CoFoE, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography
  3. Clément Beaune, Co-chair of the CoFoE, State Secretary for European Affairs for the French Council Presidency

WHAT WE WANT

To respect the will of the citizens as expressed in the Conference on the Future of Europe, the various citizens’ panels and the future.europa.eu platform.

We ask to highlight in the conclusions of the Conference

  1. the need for concrete institutional reforms to create a federal political union;
  2. the call for a Convention to reform the Treaties.

FOR POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND ACADEMIC REPRESENTATIVES

Share the petition – (i) Webpage

You can find all of the content of this newsletter and more info about the campaign here: https://bit.ly/moreEUROPEnowENG

You can use to disseminate the petition and the various instrument in an easy way.
Share the petition – (ii) Social hashtag
Show your support for the petition!
1. Download the hashtag (VERTICAL or HORIZONTAL) and print it out.
2. Take a selfie.
3. Upload it to your favourite social media and use the hashtag #moreEUROPEnow.
Share the petition – (iii) Message for Whatsapp
Copy and paste this message and send it to your contacts
#𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘄! – 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲, 𝘀𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰
As war returns to Europe, the Conference on the Future of Europe becomes an opportunity to call for the treaty reforms needed to create a federal Union.
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
1)  Download the hashtag #moreEUROPEnowhttps://bit.ly/hashtagMOREEUROPENOWeng
2)  Take a selfie
3)  Upload it to the social network of your choice and ️ use the hashtag 
#moreEUROPEnow
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼  Go to the link https://bit.ly/ moreEUROPEnowENG
𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨!
Share the petition – (iv) Multilingual versions
 Thanks to Change.org we can add a translation of the petition at any time and an image adapted to that language.
If you want to distribute the petition in a language other than those proposed, send to secretariat@federalists.eu  the translation of the petition and the Secretariat will upload it on Change.org.
Join the Appeal “Our federal Europe: sovereign and democratic”
Join the Appeal
At the start of CoFoE on 9 May 2021, UEF, together with the Spinelli Group and supported by the European Movement International, launched the Appeal “Our federal Europe: sovereign and democratic”, in which we summarised our ideas for the future of Europe. The appeal is still available on the UEF website. We invite you to circulate it also at local level (mayors, regional presidents, members of the regional and national parliaments) to further disseminate it.

The initial signatories were: Sandro GOZI, Brando BENIFEI, Eva MAYDELL, Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS, Domènec RUIZ DEVESA, Gabriele BISCHOFF, Pascal DURAND, Daniel FREUND, Damian BOESELAGER, Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Fabio Massimo CASTALDO.

By the time of the official launch of the CoFoE, more than 450 high-level personalities had joined the appeal. Among them we would like to mention Mario Vargas Llosa, Javier Cercas and Daniel Cohn-Bendit; four former presidents of the European Parliament as José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado (1997-1999), Enrique Barón Crespo (1989-1992), Martin Schulz (2012-2017) and Hans-Gert Pöttering (2007-2009).
The long list also includes: the former European Commission President Romano Prodi, the first EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Javier Solana de Madariaga, the former Commissioners Joaquín Almunia Amann, Pedro Solbes Mira and Marcelino Oreja y Aguirre; as well as sixteen former prime ministers, including Spain’s Felipe González Màrquez and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; Italy’s Mario Monti, Matteo Renzi, Enrico Letta and Giuseppe Conte; Greece’s Alexis Tsipras and Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt, co-chair of the CoFoE’s executive committee.
An overview of the list is available here.

UEF Job Vacancies | February 2022

by , posted in INFO

Job Vacancies: Policy Officer and Communications Officer in the UEF Secretariat


Deadline for application: 11 March 2022
 
The European Federalists…
…is a non-governmental pan-European organisation, dedicated to the promotion of closer European integration and a democratic and federal Europe. The UEF was founded in 1946 and today is active in many European countries. We organise campaigns, debates, seminars, actions and other events across Europe on key European issues and federalism. We dialogue with European institutions and national policy-makers to promote a united and federal Europe. The current main focus of work is the Conference on the Future of Europe, in which UEF is represented as the part of civil society in the delegation of the European Movement International. 
We are looking for…
… an above-average committed and flexible personality with a successfully completed Bachelor’s or Master’s degree preferably in the fields of European law, political science, communication, to work in the following areas: 

Communications Officer

  • Drafting of the monthly newsletter “UEF Insider” and the fortnightly newsletter on CoFoE “The Time is Now”.
  • Supporting the implementation of communication strategy and activities;
  • Supporting the UEF Secretariat in internal and external communication activities (including on social media);
  • Supporting the organisation of statutory and other internal and external meetings, etc., e.g. Congress, Federal Committee, Political Commissions, Conferences & Debates, Receptions;
  • Contributing to the management of day-to-day administrative tasks ;

Policy Officer

  • Supporting the organisation of statutory and other internal and external meetings, etc., e.g. Congress, Federal Committee, Political Commissions, Conferences & Debates, Receptions;
  • Supporting the conception and implementation of different projects;
  • Supporting the conception and implementation of the UEF-Network Academy;
  • Administrative support to the Political Commissions of the UEF;
  • Assisting the preparation of opinions, statements and working papers of the organization;
  • Contributing to the management of day-to-day administrative tasks.

We expect

  • Professional experience in the aforementioned areas;
  • The ability to grasp complex issues precisely and to process and abstract processes independently;
  • The ability to structure and organise oneself independently;
  • Readiness to work, resilience and flexibility;
  • Willingness to travel on business;
  • Loyalty;
  • A confident handling of IT media ;
  • Persuasiveness and assertiveness;
  • A very good ability to express oneself in English and another official language of the EU
  • Ability to work in a team.

We offer

  • Fixed term contract of 12 months under Belgian law – possibility to prolong the contract
  • Monthly ticket for public transport in Brussels (part of salary) + food voucher + travel reimbursements when travelling for UEF

How to apply?

  • Please send your curriculum vitae and motivation letter to the Secretary General of UEF, Anna Echterhoff: anna.echterhoff@federalists.eu 
  • Deadline for applications: 11 March 2022
  • Selection process: Successful candidates will be invited for an online interview.
  • The selected candidate would start at the earliest convenient date possible

Anna ECHTERHOFF
UEF Secretary General

MAKE EUROPE BLOOM: The Time is Now! – Survey Greece

by , posted in INFO

Dear federalist friends, 

We are writing to you today with regards to the UEF’s MAKE EUROPE BLOOM: the Time is Now! project, co-funded by the European Parliament. 

As you already know, this project is contributing to raising awareness on the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) and setting up the new European Bauhaus by mirroring citizens’ feelings on Europe through art. In order to meet our innovative approach, we count on renown urban artist Antonyo Marest. With your contributions we will be painting murals in different cities across Europe.

In our next stop in Piraeus, Greece, we will be painting a mural based on the idea of “Climate change and the environment”, one of the topics of the CoFoE.

We would like to ask you to answer the questions below so that we can paint the future Europe together! #MakeEuropeBloom

SURVEY

Warm federalist regards,

UEF Secretariat

It is time to make federalist voices heard!

by , posted in INFO, NEWS

MAKE SURE FEDERALIST VOICES ARE HEARD BY 20 FEBRUARY!

Brussels, 8 February 2022

Dear federalist friends,

About to conclude, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) enters its hot political phase. 

Three interim reports on the multilingual digital platform have been prepared so far, since the Platform kicked off in April 2021, and have fed into the work of the European and national Citizens’ Panels and the Conference Plenaries.

Only contributions made on the platform by  20 February  will be taken into account in the report which will be published  on 17 March.

We must make sure federalist voices are heard, and the time to act is now. We kindly ask you to boost our efforts to raise awareness about this positive momentum, with a view to engage citizens directly, and to gain wider support for our ideas, projects, and proposals.

We therefore, invite you to refer to our ideas published on the Conference platform, that you can support and disseminate:

We must now take advantage of the Conference on the Future of Europe to move forward a more sovereign, democratic and stronger EU. As stated in the last line of the Ventotene Manifesto, the road won’t be easy, but we must strive to develop Spinelli’s ideas.

Find here a handbook on the CoFoE Multilingual Digital Platform. 

In addition to that, if you wish to upload – last minute – your own positions or events and if you need support, please let us know!

The contact person in the UEF Secretariat is Mariona Espín Onieva (mariona.espinonieva@federalists.eu).

Yours faithfully,

Anna ECHTERHOFF
UEF Secretary General