Towards the Federation of Europe

Press release

8 October 2011, by Permanent Forum of European civil society

At the initiative of the Permanent Forum of European Civil Society, created in 1995 around a draft Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, citizens from several Member States met on 1 October 2011. The theme of the meeting - held in Houjarray (Yvelines) in Jean Monnet House – was to revive the idea of the Federation of Europe mentioned in the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950.

The coincidence of date placed this meeting in the wake of President Barroso’s speech on “the State of the Union” on September 28, and a few days before the presentation by President Van Rompuy of his report on reforming the governance of the euro area, at the European Council of 18 and 19 October.

Amidst the current turmoil of the euro area, the participants in this meeting are convinced that only a democratic European federation, based on the interdependence of the peoples of Europe, will be able to maintain their cohesion, promote their social model and ensure that such a federation plays its role in a multipolar world.

The participants are also convinced that a European government – of the whole of the Union or of the euro area alone - must be accountable to European citizens.

In their opinion, the path to the creation of such a European government must be initiated and laid out by citizens’ initiatives of a democracy that is participatory and deliberative. To do this, it is necessary and urgent that the European society summons up all its strength.

In concluding their meeting, the participants agreed to continue their work on three themes:

1. Defining the ‘Federation of Europe’,

2. Stimulating citizen dynamics for the launch of a constituent process,

3. Contributing to the creation of a Federal Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Time is short. The next European elections will be held in 2014, one hundred years after the start of the First World War. The European government that will be put in place will certainly mark this anniversary, but above all will offer European peoples a new perspective of peace, justice and prosperity.

Houjarray (Yvelines), October 2, 2011

About the author

Permanent Forum of European civil society

The “PERMANENT FORUM OF EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY” was born of an idea of federalist-minded associations which, in 1995, were seeking allies in civil society to promote a genuine European democracy. The idea was taken up in a Call to a great number of networks of NGOs and trade union organisations by the Conference of the presidents of the national councils of the International European Movement at its meeting in Bonn on September 21, 1995.

http://en.forum-civil-society.org/

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