by Lorenzo Sparviero |

The current Libyan crisis once again highlights the dramatic non-existence of the European Union.

Everyone agrees that it would be useful, necessary and urgent for the European Union to speak with “one voice”. Each important member state (France, Germany, Italy …) instead tries to play a leading role by appealing to unity in support of its action.

It is an indecorous and irritating spectacle because the European citizen cannot understand why every member state of the Union supports unanimity in words but then always finds ” valid reasons ” to sabotage it.

Modestly, I try to provide my Interpretation (fortunately not only mine!) of this puzzle. It is the governance of the EU, its intergovernmental system, that creates this permanent stalemate because, instead of being based on a constitution approved by citizens (as was the case in the United States of America and Switzerland), it is based on treaties that imply continuous negotiation between member states, which place the interest of their respective countries above the common interest of all the states and European citizens.

This EU, oriented more towards national than common interests, seems unable to hypothesize a change in its system of government from intergovernmental to federal constitutional. In fact, it has not yet happened – and probably never will be seen – that an EU member state asks to put this issue on the European political agenda.

Is it possible to break this “vicious circle” which for decades has prevented Europe from playing the role of protagonist, which is up to it and which would benefit the world? The answer is yes! Who should have this honour and obligation? The grassroots movements of citizens such as sardines, which will have to spread in all the countries of the Union and form a federation between them, asking for this historic change with strength and with one voice! When this will happen, politicians will finally be forced to move, following up on these requests.

From now on, these basic political movements – which will have to become transnational and federal – will be able to trigger this peaceful revolution, for the good of Europe and the world. The sardines should organize themselves as on a “federal basis” in all 27 EU countries, continuing to carry out their public flash mobs on the main European cities, launching new slogans in favour of building a federal Europe. This is the concrete way to really change Europe in the interest of European citizens and not of individual countries or power groups.

FAEF (Federal Alliance of European Federalists), a newly formed association based in The Hague, was designed to be the catalyst for this change which will have to lead to the realization of the United States of Europe through a non-partisan program based on broad popular consensus, the participation of citizens and the various movements and associations that share this project.

FAEF, if the Sardines and other movements and associations want to engage in the realization of this project, could become the centre of connection and coordination between all the movements, finally triggering the process of ” federalization of Europe”.

The failure to implement the creation of a critical mass resulting from the sum of several movements and associations – which we call the “federation of federalists” – is one of the main causes of the non-existence, after more than seventy years, of a federal Europe.

Europe will either be federal or it will not be! This is now a fact and Brexit is demonstrating it to us in a dramatic way. Why was the UK the first to leave the EU? Because it was and is the most “independent” member state in the EU of 28: without Euro, with strong traditions, economically powerful, natural allied with the USA.

If the EU had decided to embark on the path of transformation towards the United States of Europe, the United Kingdom would probably not have left it.

A federal system is characterized by the centralization of the management of some important and common interest problems that each country alone cannot solve (common defence, environmental issue, immigration and other global problems), everything else remains the responsibility of individual member states that will continue to be sovereign and autonomous.

These characteristics of the federal system, which make it superior in terms of institutional efficiency and democracy compared to the EU’s intergovernmental system, are little known to the majority of the European citizens. It is for this reason that FAEF has taken on the task of disseminating them through its own Promoting Committee and grassroots movements – such as sardines, but not only – that wish to be part of this association – FAEF – formed by organizations and supported by individual European citizens who want to commit themselves to the creation of the federal Europe based on a Constitution.

Long live democratic and federal Europe!

Lorenzo Sparviero – Editor