The European Federalist Party is a European political party founded on 6 November 2011 in Paris. It is the result of the reunification of the FederalistParty of France and the Europe United Party which had a presence in several countries of the European Union. It is one of the first European-oriented political parties that openly defends European federalism and is not a coalition of pre-existing national parties. In 2016, the office was composed of President Pietro De Matteis, Vice President Geogios Kostakos, Secretary General Emmanuel Rodary, Treasurer Mariarosaria Marziali, John Retetagos, Marco Marazzi and Michel Caillouet. Following the general assembly of December 6, 2016, the office of the European Federalist Party merges with the citizen movements Stand-up for the United States of Europe and USE Now to create Stand Up For Europe. The European Federalist Party is made up of members from 12 European countries, from civil society, who face their professional life and political commitment.
Political strategy
The European Federalist Party, like the federalist model, leaves a great deal of autonomy to its national sections, which have a certain freedom of adaptation of the European program to the local culture. On the other hand, the European program whose primary goal is to build a European federation is common. The PFE thus seeks to differentiate itself from the current official formations of the European Parliament by proposing a real cohesion on the European level. The announced goal is to create a mass popular movement around the party and the idea of a federal Europe to respond to the current crisis. The European Federalist Party has participated in numerous elections, including the French presidential election and the European elections.
Political project
The goal of the European Federalist Party is to create a European Federation of voluntary member states of the European Union. It aims to present candidates at all elections across Europe. He was initially supported by prominent European personalities, such as Marco Pannella, who was a member. The members of the PFE campaign for the creation of a supranational European State with limited sovereign powers and political institutions: government, assembly, federal Senate representing the Member States.
Main proposals
As the name suggests, the party's goal is to make the European Union a true federal state. This project can be carried out possibly from a nucleus of volunteer countries members of the eurozone. That implies :
Establish a federal Constitution in place of the many current treaties.
Elect a federal president by direct universal suffrage to represent the federation internationally. Guarantor of its constitution, it would exercise the powers of the European Council.
Make the European Commission a true federal government.
Strengthen the powers of the European Parliament. The vote must be regionalized in order to bring MEPs closer to their constituents, while the Council of the European Union must be replaced by a real "European Senate", with a view to a bicameral system.
Strengthen the powers of the European Central Bank to empower it to deal with financial crises.
Create a European Headquarters responsible for the European Common Army.
Deepen European citizenship to make it a true nationality, independent of national citizenship.
Define a common European foreign and diplomatic policy to better defend European interests vis-à-vis other major powers.
Create a European budget to finance major projects and create jobs throughout Europe.
Establish European independent control authorities in the areas of environment, health security and bioethics.
Countries wishing to join the Federal Union will have to adopt the European Constitution to maintain a certain coherence in its functioning. This does not exclude the possibility of cooperation agreements with privileged partners.
The PFE believes that most of the ills in the European Union today are due to old age and the shortcomings of an institutional scheme that was completed by the crisis. The European Federalist Party wants to go beyond the current Union, which according to that party is "bureaucratic and undemocratic". The federal Europe desired by the PFE has nothing to do with the current European Union, which would be too weak to defend European interests, and too far from the concerns of citizens.
