We, Europeans

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.
John Donne

Our mission

Reforming the institutional make-up of the European Union is at the heart of European Federalist Party’s objectives. EFP believes that any reform of the European Union must be based on more democratic foundations. We believe EU citizens must have a greater say in the way the Union is run. We promote this principle through various campaigns and petitions in order to give European citizens the ability to show their support for greater integration and greater democracy in the European Union. We also aim to present candidates to as many elections as possible to change institutions from the inside all over Europe, in every member state.

European Federalist Party is the new pro-European, pan-European and federalist political party and free-thinkers organisation which advocates further integration of the EU and the establishment of a united Europe. Our party is organised around its 'Europe First' principle, meaning that it is not built to guard national interests but to develop Europe as an entity. From its headquarters in Brussels, our party intends to develop branches and contest elections in every country of Europe. European Federalist Party is not affiliated with, or financed by, existing European institutions. It is financed by donations and members fees only which make it free to criticize EU as well.

Our organization

European Federalist Party is based on national chapters and an entity to gather them all. Indeed, as it is currently not possible to create a europeanwide association with status only registered once, EFP has to be registered in each member state. Then, the European level of the EFP is registered in Brussels and each chapters is linked to this “Belgian” association. As soon as there will be the possibility to be a real European association, the EFP will become one.

When you become a member of the EFP, you choose an existing national chapter to be member (usually the state you live in) and become automatically also member of the European level of the EFP. If there is not yet a chapter in your country, you become directly member of the European level.

Our history

Europe United was founded as a pro-European organisation in 2005 by Finnish, but Danish-based politician Aki Paasovaara shortly after France and the Netherlands voted down the proposed European Union constitution. Europe United was created as a forum to allow pro-Europeans from all over Europe to debate about Europe and on its future.

In September 2005 Europe United officially registered as a political association in Denmark and a governing Board was created consisting of Aki Paasovaara, Brian Andersen, Jyry Kärna and Jannie Paasovaara.

The first convention was held in Copenhagen in May 2006. The event was decisive in the history of the party, and marked the merger of Europe United with United for Europe, a federalist group created by Pietro De Matteis earlier that year. After the first convention, a new Board was named consisting of Aki Paasovaara, Ivan Bavcevic, Francesco Cerminara, Mikael Latreille, George Masterton, Pietro De Matteis, and Brigit McCone.

In February 2007 Mikael Latreille was elected by the membership as the new president. A new Board was also chosen composed by Brigit McCone, Petros Fassoulas, Michael Duller, and Bengt Beier. More streamlined political platforms were approved and in April 2008, Europe United launched it's "Five Demands" campaign for more democracy and accountability in the European Union. In summer 2008, the German members created the first National Chapter of Europe United and elected the national Board.

In February 2009, in the run-up to the 2009 European Elections, Europe United elected its fourth Board. In May 2009, the fifth Convention was held in Frankfurt and Salzburg, Austrian National Chapter was created and five Candidates for the European Elections were selected. Shortly after the elections, the Board set up a commission to draft a broader political platform in order to integrate the experiences of the first years. The new guidelines were finally agreed upon unanimously at the sixth Convention in December 2009 in Leuven. In the meantime, Europe United successfully led a broad campaign of pro-Europeans to push Czech President Václav Klaus to sign the Lisbon treaty.

Another page in the history of Europe United was written on Sunday 6th November 2011, when the Parti Fédéraliste and Europe United joined their forces to create the European Federalist Party.

The governing board of the new party is composed by Pietro De Matteis (co-president), Yves Gernigon (co-president), Hélène Feo (vice-president), Jan Van Arkel (vice-president) and Nico Segers (treasurer). On Sunday November 6th the members of the Convention have adopted the Statute of the Party.