Why should we abandon the EU for a Federal Europe?

Лео Клинкерс
President Federal Alliance of European Federalists (FAEF)
01 September 2021

Text of the video message

After 20 years, the European Union has organised another Conference on the future of Europe. 

This is not the place to explain in detail why a federal constitution is necessary for a democratic governance of Europe instead of working with treaties. I will suffice with formulating six points.  

1. Facts: After the creation of the world's first federation in 1787-1789, just over 42% of the world's population now lives in 27 federal states. All are based on a federal constitution, not treaties. Well-built federations are democratic, functional, and powerful.
2. Evolution: The world order will establish more federal states in the course of this century. They become the building blocks, the member states of a world federation under the Earth Constitution which has already been designed by world federalists.
3. Constitution: a federal constitution is the value-driven soul of a society that wants to live under the rule of law and the trias politica. Treaties cannot do that. They have neither rule of law nor trias politica. Treaties are no solution to the nation-state anarchy which is the cause of so many wars in Europe and of so many conflicts within the EU.  
4. Common interests: a federal constitution only deals with a limited and exhaustive list of common interests of member states. These are interests that individual member states cannot look after on their own, entrusting them to a federal body to take care of. All other interests remain within the sovereign and independent powers of the member states and their citizens.
5. Sovereignty: with a federal constitution, the member states remain sovereign and autonomous. They retain their institutions such as the legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, their own policies, culture, language, and traditions. This is called shared sovereignty.
6. No superstate: a federation is not a superstate. The European Union behaves like a superstate and interferes more and more in the sovereignty of the member states. Managing 27 countries as one state with treaties is a source of increasing conflicts.

With our Citizens' Convention we want to make a structural contribution to the creation of a federal United States of Europe.

On behalf of the board of FAEF I would like to thank you for your interest, and I hope that you will sign up en masse as members of our Citizens' Convention. Let us show the EU what committed citizens of Europe can do and dare to do. 

The text of this short lecture follows. At the end you can download information about our Citizens' Convention and about the procedure to register as member of our Convention.

Thank you.

Downloads

If you want to join our Convention please read the Call for Participation: https://www.faef.eu/wp-content/uploads/Call-English-28July2021.pdf. If that information encourages you to participate, please (a) register at https://www.faef.eu/en_gb/citizens-convention/ and (b) return the signed Protocol (see p. 16 and 17 of the Call) to administration@faef.eu.