The European Union and federalism

Although it has a sui generis (specific) status, the European Union is federal . It is similar to a confederation . Each state retains its sovereignty but pools the rest of its powers, unlike a federation like in the United States where it is the opposite. Confederation is also seen as the first step before the establishment of a definitive federation.

At the end of World War II in May 1945, Germany was destroyed and occupied. Its cities were in ruins. Faced with this bitter realization, which many Germans attributed to nationalism, the decision was made to move from a unitary and central model to a federal model. Thus, in 1949, a new constitution was defined, giving birth to the Federal Republic of Germany, whose first elected chancellor was Konrad Adenauer .

The latter, along with Robert Schumann (French statesman) and Alcide Gasperi (Italian statesman), wishing to eliminate national quarrels, laid the foundations of a united Europe in the 1950s, overcoming the age-old opposition of certain peoples, to become, 50 years later, the European Union that we know today.

Nevertheless, General De Gaulle, at the head of France in the 1960s, did not intend to enter into the federal and supranational logic carried by the Germans and supported by the British and the Americans. De Gaulle argued in favor of a “Europe of nations ,” a confederal Europe ¹ . He refused to consider a political organization that would imply any abandonment of French sovereignty . The end of the 1960s saw the blocking of proposals for European integration by De Gaulle. At that time, it became clear that European revival had to involve a change at the head of the French government. The arrival of Pompidou made this possible, notably with the first enlargement and the entry of the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland into the EEC (ancestor of the EU). Nevertheless, Pompidou, like his predecessor, continued to resist the federalist and supranationalist impulses of Germany and the Benelux.

This resistance still remains on the French side today . In 2012, while Guy Verhofstadt (Belgian Minister of State) stated that European heads of state would be “obliged” to quickly create a European federal state, following the example of the United States, French President François Hollande, at the same time, stated on Europe 1, well aware, that France would be forced to follow its German neighbors towards European federalism.

Indeed, according to some, it is enough to take an interest in European politics to realize that only one solution is possible: evolution, whatever it may be. Because in fact, by looking at the state of the Union today, the observation is there: Europe is at an impasse ² . However, although certain European States resist the idea of ​​a federal Europe, they nevertheless adopt its bases by putting in place certain federal-type tools such as a common currency with the euro, a European criminal police agency with Europol, a European Court of Justice and even in 2004 a European defense agency, thus making the European project a hybrid system halfway between confederation and federation.

However, this ambiguity makes the European Union an unfinished and fragile construction . The example of Brexit speaks for itself.

A joint report by Sciences Po Cevipof, the Jacques Delors Institute and Kantar showed that the French have become the most Eurosceptic people in Europe , just after the Greeks and barely ahead of the British ³ . As for the Italians, who have long been among the peoples most in favour of European integration, they are today at the same level of distrust as the Greeks and the French.  In the end , the ambiguity will have only produced bitter fruits.

Yet 58% of French people, in 2021, thought that moving towards a federal Europe, as proposed by the German government, was a good thing 4 ^. Citizens being ahead of most of their representatives .

European integration is stuck midstream, the most dangerous part of the river, where the current is strongest and it is easy to lose one’s footing. The old method of taking small steps no longer works. We must move, and quickly, because the world is not waiting. Europeans must either retreat toward the nationalist bank or advance toward the federalist bank. The European Union is at a crossroads, at the moment of truth where it must choose one path and renounce another. The Union can be reborn. But it can also disappear , in the months and years to come.

To date, out of 27 European countries, 10 are in favor of an evolution of the European Union, advocating for the “United States of Europe” which are: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain ⁵ . They have called themselves the “group of the future” . This group, representing more than half of the European population, wants the appointment of a European president by universal suffrage. Sovereign powers such as border management, budget and defense would be devolved to the federation. European countries would be federated entities in a European federal superstate.

It is unfortunate to note that France is not part of this group , remaining stuck in the distant past. It remains the only country among the founding members of the EU not to have evolved on the issue, considered by some to be the blocking element, France thus constitutes the lock of Europe towards its transformation , whereas federalism would on the contrary allow everything to be unblocked without attacking the individuality of the state.