JEF Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Dear Reader,

2013 was the European year of citizenship and citizenship was a key word in the actions developed by the Young European Federalists in 2013.

In the run-up to the European elections where youth participa-tion is dramatically declining, we organised several seminars, developed many actions to explain the role of the European institutions and the benefits of being a European citizen.

We have also been among the ones promoting an active ci-tizenship, demanding a greater participation of citizens, more democracy and respect of civil and social rights all over Europe.

We worked constantly to act as bridge-builders between the citizens and the European decision-makers by striving to recon-nect them. That’s why JEF members were mobilised all over the year to actively reach out to citizens via presentations in schools, debates in universities, international seminars, public events, street actions, pan-European campaigns, online articles and various local, regional, national and European actions, aiming to reverse European and political apathy and fight nationalism.

In our effort to bring Europe closer to the citizens, we also lobbied to close the gaps in democracy, transparency and efficiency in the current European constellation and equip it with the necessary institutions and policies to be prepared for the future.

Through our commitment to a supranational European destiny, we thus breathed life into the concept of European Citizenship and added to the strengthening of the European consciousness.

Pauline Gessant President of JEF Europe

EDITORIAL

TABLE OF CONTENT

WHAT IS JEF?

POLITICAL PLATFORM

WHO IS JEF?

JEF EXPLAINED

THE FACES OF JEF EUROPE

MORE FEDERALISTS ALL OVER EUROPE

CAMPAIGNS & ACTIONS

BELARUS ACTION

UNITED IN SOLIDARITY! LET’S CELEBRATE EUROPE!

WELCOME CROATIA

VISA-FREE EUROPE ACTION

ACTIVITIES

THE NEW FEDERALIST

FRIENDS OF JEF

SUPPORTERS

PARTNERS

EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION AND LOBBYING

PUBLICATIONS

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6

9

10

12

16

19

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28

31

32

34

37

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5 WHAT IS JEF?

The Young European Federalists (JEF) is an independent, trans-national, political youth organisation with thousands of members in more than 35 European countries.

Our goal is to create a democratic European federation as a crucial ingredient for peace, a guarantee for a more free, just and democratic society. We promote true European Citizenship, work for the widening and deepening of the EU and strive for a more just and integrated society on the European continent. We are independent from all political parties and ideologies and pursue our objectives autonomously. Nevertheless, the orga-nisation can of course participate in the exchange of opinions and experiences with political movements, public institutions, associations and the general public.

We aim at bringing Europe closer to the citizens and the citizens closer to Europe. To this end, the organisation aspires to develop a better understanding of European Federalism and advances the implementation of the federalist ideals.

We concentrate our action on the achievement of international de-mocracy and efficient, democratic and transparent decision-making through respect for federal principles in Europe and beyond.

We offer the ideal combination of «Politics & Fun» designing a wide variety of activities, such as international exchanges, campaigns and pan-European actions, for a new and stronger European Union that is able to rise to the cross-border challenges of our interconnected societies. We dream of an increasingly united Europe, based on the principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, subsidiarity and civic participation.

INTRODUCTION

6

POLITCAL PLATFORM

WE WANT A BETTER EUROPE!

The Young European Federalists want a free and united Europe, governed according to the principles of democracys and the rule of law, striving to ensure peace, prosperity, security and justice in Europe and in the world.

The recent crisis proved that the process of European integration is still far from complete. We need to complete the integration process and build Federal European institutions and a Federal European democracy.

A European Federation is our only prospect to find the neces-sary balance between decision-making power and democratic legitimacy that will enable our society to face the unpredictable challenges that are bound to rise in the 21st century.

WE WANT A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE!

We want a common economic policy that is rooted in a larger European budget, based on own resources such as a European financial transaction tax.

A common economic plan for sustainable development and social welfare is an essential component of an economic policy that aims to build a sustainable Europe.

We want an economic policy that is also based on solidarity tools, such as Eurobonds for the mutualisation of debt or to make investments in sustainable projects at European level.

The common market needs to be completed with a common basis for taxation, an end to fiscal competition among states within the Union, a common banking supervision, the continued support to freedom of movement for workers and common mechanisms to counter external economic shocks in the member states.

Member states need to be supported by the EU institutions in their efforts to provide social protection. Common minimal stan-dards should be set at the EU-level to avoid social dumping and convergence of social rights at the lowest common denominator in the European Union.

A single European energy policy is a necessity. Europe needs to act as one single actor on the world scene and promote a united approach towards climate change.

THE EUROPE WE WANT!

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WE WANT A STRONGER EUROPEAN ROLE IN THE WORLD!

The EU needs a real European Foreign and Security Policy that will enable it to act with a single voice on the world stage.

The Common Defence Policy for the EU should be strengthened, including the development of European defence capabilities.

WE WANT A FUTURE- ORIENTED EUROPE!

Investment in education, research and development should be central to the EU’s strategy. The EU should also develop and im-prove exchange programs for secondary school pupils, trainees, students, researchers and teaching staff from all over Europe and remove financial obstacles to participation in these programmes.

We want a Europe that considers migration as a resource, not a problem. The EU needs a Single Immigration and Asylum Policy that is implemented by its Federal Government and controlled by its European Federal Parliament.

We want a Europe that does not accept the reintroduction of borders. The free circulation of people should be guaranteed as a fundamental right of European citizens.

WE WANT A MORE DEMOCRATIC EUROPE!

The European Parliament elections are the right moment to re-launch democracy in Europe. We want the European parties to go beyond being simple groups of national political families and follow ideological, social and political lines rather than territorial ones. The European Parliament is the only European institution that is directly elected by the citizens. That is why we want the current decision-making framework to be reformed to a true federal bica-meral system with the European Parliament at its democratic core.

We want the European Commission to become a true European Government that is accountable to the European Parliament. It has to include a European Ministry of Economic and Financial affairs with the competences to conduct coherent economic governance.

The restoration of the authority of democratically legitimised politics over the dynamics of the global markets is only possible by creating a Federal Economic, Fiscal and Monetary Union that is accountable to the European Federal Parliament.

WE WANT A NEW CONVENTION!

A new constitutional conven-tion is needed to build the federal Europe we want. The convention ought to be a true constitutional committee with representatives of citizens of all origins, ages, sexes and social statuses, associations and other actors of civil society.

The convention should in par-ticular develop the Economic and Monetary Union, stren-gthening its government and introducing a federal budget to finance growth policies in order to overcome the current and future crises. The draft federal constitution must be democra-tically accepted. It must win a majority in the convention and the adopted text must be sup-ported by European citizens in a pan-European-referendum.

The constitutional process needs to be fully democratic, open, public and transparent, allowing citizens to provide their input and empowering them to do so.

WE WANT EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

THAT MEET THE NEEDS OF ALL CITIZENS!

WE WANT A FEDERAL EUROPE!

www.moveuropeforward.eu

8

9 WHO IS JEF?

10

JEF IS ITS EUROPEAN ACTIVISTS:

THE FEDERAL COMMITTEE The Executive Board implements the decisions taken by the Federal Committee (FC), which controls the Executive Board. You could consider the Federal Committee as JEF’s parliament. The Federal Committee physically meets twice a year and formulates the political and organisational policies. The Federal Committee is composed of 16 members directly elected by the Congress and one representative for each national section. All of these people participate in one or more Political Commissions (PC) or Task Forces (TF)

THE ARBITRATION BOARD

The Arbitration Board has five members elected by the Congress. They elect a chairperson from among their members. Its function is to settle statutory conflicts between members, sections and statutory bodies. As such, you could consider them as JEF’s constitutional court.

JEF EXPLAINED

JEF IS ITS MEMBERS:

THE EUROPEAN CONGRESSThe Congress is the supreme body of JEF and represents all members. You could consider the Congress as the representa-tion of our citizens. It meets every two years. It is composed of delegates elected by national sections. The congress elects the President, the two Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the members of the Executive Board, the directly elected members of the Federal Committee, the Arbitration Board and the Auditors Committee. The Congress also defines the political direction through our Political Platform.

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JEF IS ITS DAY-TO-DAY LEADERSHIP:

THE EXECUTIVE BOARDJEF is guided on a daily basis by the Executive Board (EB). You could consider the Executive Board as JEF’s government. The Executive Board is responsible for the management, coordina-tion and daily dynamic of the organisation. It is composed of the President, the two Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, four members elected by the European Congress and the Secretary-General.

JEF IS ITS ORGANISATIONAL BACKBONE:

THE EUROPEAN SECRETARIATYou could consider the secretariat as JEF’s public administration. The Secretary General is in charge of the secretariat. S/he is responsible for relations with all our sections and the coordina-tion of their activities. S/he is appointed by the Executive Board and ratified by the Federal Committee for a term of two years.

THE AUDITORS COMMITTEE

The Auditors Committee is composed of at least two members and a maximum of three, elected by the Congress. It verifies our accounts at least once a year. It is accountable to the Federal Committee, to which it has to report at least once a year. As such, they are comparable to JEF’s Court of Auditors

12

THE FACES OF JEF EUROPE

Pauline Gessant — President

Vaida Cenuleviciute — Presidium

Irene Sabio Gallego

Javier Ruiz Soler

Vladimir Thano

Aurelien Brouillet

Carlo Maria Palermo

Aurelien Caron

Federico Guerrieri — Secretaty General

Norbert Kucharik

Rita Stadtfeld — Project Officer

Sven Bisang — Presidium

Elisa Selinummi — Presidium

Monica Tiberi

Angelika Schenk

Abdul Aydemir

Rukiye Kaya

Urs Poetzsch

Miriam Postiglione

Peter Oomsels — Vice-President

Espen Berg-Larsen — Board member

Christopher Glück — Vice-President

Claire Darmé — Board member

Henrik Manner — Treasurer

Federico Butti — Board member

Ivana Jordanovska — Board member

Federico Guerrieri — Secretary General

THE EXECUTIVE BOARD THE FEDERAL COMMITEE

THE SECRETARIAT

LATEST MEETINGSJEF Federal Committee Meeting, Athens, Greece, 19-21 April 2013

XXII European Congress, Paris, France, 1-3 November 2013 New elected members of JEF Europe’s statutory bodies. Participants adopted the New Political platform and a new Logo for JEF Europe.

13

WHAT WAS YOUR BEST MOMENT IN JEF IN 2013?

Allow me to stress two mo-ments corresponding to the 2 pillars of JEF:

• The street action during the Strasbourg-Stuttgart seminar gathering 130 young people coming from all over Europe, claiming for a Federal Europe and communicating their en-thusiasm to citizens in the streets

• The hearing for the joint EMI-UEF-JEF Petition in front of the ECON and AFCO committees in the European Parliament be-cause it’s a symbol of our coo-peration with UEF and EMI and also a proof that our lobbying is more and more relevant and efficient.

Pauline Gessant — President of JEF Europe

There were many highlights regarding my involvement in JEF in 2013 but I would like to focus on two. In May 2013, JEF Baden-Württemberg, a state-section in Germany in-vited me to speak on behalf of JEF Switzerland at their annual meeting and to become the official contact person in their state-level board. This consti-tutes the first permanent and institutionalised link between JEF Switzerland and a sis-ter-organisation of JEF abroad. The other highlight concerns the European Congress in Paris, where it was a great pleasure to see that many motivated young Europeans debating about the future of our continent.

Sven Bisang, — Federal Commitee Presidium

My best moment in 2013 was actually not a moment, rather all the occasions in which I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with JEF friends all over Europe. Repre-senting the Young European Federalists in high-prof ile events can indeed be conside-red as a great honour, howe-ver what I will remember for a long time are the many nice young people that make JEF such a unique and beautiful organisation.


14

WHAT WERE THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS OF JEF IN 2013?

The development of JEF sections: we recognised 3 new sections during our last Congress and we developed 2 new contact groups in Ireland and Poland.

The development of joint pan-European actions to-gether with UEF

The conduct of an internal SWOT analysis laying the groundwork for the improve-ment of our functioning


The successful renewal of mandates at the European Congress in Paris was cer-tainly the most important achievement of JEF in 2013. JEF lives by its people. I feel that the EB and FC elected in Paris have shown a good start into their new term and I am very optimistic for the future of the organisation, incl. the cam-paign for the European elec-tions. Further achievements were the renewal of the logo and the implementation of the most urgent statutory changes after a long and constructive process.


Throughout 2013 the Young European Federalists have act ively involved several thousands of young people with different socio-economic backgrounds in activities that took place all over Europe, both in EU and non-EU coun-tries. At our XXII European Congress in Paris we added 3 national sections to our JEF family, reaching the impressive number of 35 member orga-nisations. Furthermore, JEF became more financially sus-tainable, which is something we should indeed be proud of, in particular in this time of crisis.


15

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BRING TO THE ORGANISATION FOR THE FUTURE?

I want to contribute to the development of a strong, sustainable, political, visible and united JEF. Particularly I want to preserve coherence and unity in JEF and to raise its profile in order to better spread our political message, especially among the young people, provide visibility to our sections and actions, increase our outreach, influence policy making bodies, motivate our members and develop our network.


As a member of the FC Presi-dium, I will continue to strive to improve statutory mee-tings further. Together with my colleagues Elisa Selinum-mi and Vaida Cesnuleviciute, the Presidium will make sure that all necessary statutory decisions are taken but also that there will be more room for debates on concrete pro-jects and policy debates which enable JEF to play an ever more powerful role shaping the debate on the future of the Union.


My mandate as Secretary General will come to an end in September 2014. In these last months I wish to help JEF in becoming an even more influent actor in Brussels and all over Europe. The European Parliament elections of May 2014 will be a decisive mo-ment for JEF as well as for Europe, and we are doing our best to be ready for this exci-ting event. Finally, my wish for JEF and for Federalism is that we will manage to attract an even broader and more diffe-rentiated audience, reaching out to more citizens with so-cio-economic disadvantages, as a Federal Europe should only be realized through a bot-tom-up approach that directly involves the citizens of Europe.


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MORE FEDERALISTS ALL OVER EUROPE

JEF Europe has grown in the past year. During the XXII Euro-pean Congress in Paris in the beginning of November, the dele-gates accepted three new full memberships. Thus, JEF-Armenia, JEF-Netherlands and JEF-Turkey were welcomed into the family making its number of sections up to 35. JEF-Netherlands and JEF-Turkey wanted to explain what their motivations and ex-pectations were and how they are going to make their sections work by implementing new projects.

JEF-NETHERLANDSWHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION TO BECOME A JEF SECTION?

JEF-Netherlands was founded with the idea in mind to have or reactivate a JEF section in the Netherlands. All actions before the European Congress in Paris were striving towards full membership of JEF Europe. All members were aware of this goal and also joined our two local sections to help achieving it.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM JEF EUROPE?

We see JEF Europe as the family association. It should be setting the agenda on European level in terms of policy and actions by organising different pan-European campaigns and actions as well as seminars. JEF Europe is for us the lobby organisation on European level for federalism and youth issues. We appreciate the current information flow as it allows us to easily implement the actions according to our own organisational culture.

WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ARE YOU

PLANNING TO ORGANISE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?

On national level we are plan-ning the following:

• EP Training days in May. • A moving Café Europe / drink once a month in a different city (organised by JEF NL). • JEF Cross-Border Network seminar end of October/beg inn ing of November • D u t c h Tr a i n i n g D a y s . • Perhaps: bilateral exchanges with JEF Austria - JEF Spain - JEF Belgium in 2015 (tbc). • Perhaps: policy sessions with JEF SK - JEF Malta for the EU Presidency trio in 2016/2017 (tbc).

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WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION TO BECOME

A JEF SECTION?

The main mot ivat ion for J E F -Tu r k e y t o b e c o m e member of JEF Europe was to enforce European values in Turkey and to pursue a positive agenda for Turkey’s ongoing negotiation with the EU. What we aim at, as a JEF section in Turkey, is to encou-rage and develop a unity of thought and action among the young people in the country, in line with the objectives of a more democratic and fede-ralist Europe. Strengthening regional ties with other JEF sections is definitely another motive for JEF-Turkey.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

FROM JEF EUROPE?

We look forward to expanding our network of young and enthusiastic advocates who believe in the formation of a truly united Federal Europe. We expect that JEF Europe will create opportunities for stren-gthening relations between Turkey and the EU. In this re-gard we hope that our efforts towards the progression of Turkey’s EU accession process will also be supported by our European peers through joint campaigns.

WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ARE YOU PLANNING TO ORGANISE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?

As JEF-Turkey, we are totally motivated to undertake many activities although we are a very young national section still working on its organisational structure. Since JEF-Turkey held its own General Assembly very recently and thus elected a new Executive Board, we have been willing to carry out activities that will sustain an efficient process of team-building, to deepen our ties in the first place.

To be more specific, we thought of social events for our members and the EB so that the whole national section will have a solid identity and consciousness. That’s why we have planned JEF picnics, quiz nights and parties. These events are also practical opportunities for our team to get to know each other before reaching others.

Apart from these events and activities; we have planned to or-ganise activities and events that will promote JEF-Turkey, thus publicise ourselves, and raise or build awareness on certain subjects. Hence, we will continue with our Café Europe meetings that will have a theme on a particular subject. We are planning to organise Café Europe events at least once a month. We have also planned to organise events for specific days such as Europe Day in May. Furthermore, starting in May, there will be “InforMe” discussion sessions on certain subjects throughout the year such as, European Integration, TR’s Accession Process into the EU, EU without borders- Visa issue. Starting from September we will launch student Kick-offs at universities and try to promote JEF through campus events. Before finishing the year, we will continue these events and our goal is to have an efficient team at the end of the year while also having reached 1000 official members. We are planning to end this year with a New Year’s Eve party.

JEF-TURKEY

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19 CAMPAIGNS & ACTIONS

One of our aims is to promote European awareness among young people and encourage civic activism. That is why campaigns and activities play such an important role in the organisation. In 2013 we carried out four decisive activities to reach out to the citizens and to give visibility to the organisation.

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BELARUS ACTION

ALL OVER EUROPE 8 MARCH 2013

Also last year, the 18th of March, JEF activists from all over Eu-rope organised actions to protest against and raise awareness on the last remaining dictatorship on the European continent. Besides the street action, a joint open letter on the situation in Belarus was issued with the European Youth Forum, AEGEE and 8 political parties’ youth organisations. Ever since coming to power in 1994, Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko oppressed the freedom of his people and ignored their voices.

We believes that the idea of federal Europe can come to the action only if all people in Europe become united in their action and support each other. Freedom is a key foundation of fede-ral Europe and we as Europeans cannot leave the Belarusian citizens behind!

The last presidential elections on the 19th of December 2010 ended in mass detentions of protesters, with leaders of the opposition being imprisoned. Numerous protests showed that the people of Belarus had had enough of Lukashenko’s rule. Our moral duty was, and it is still, to support them and help their voices being heard.

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UNITED IN SOLIDARITY! LET’S CELEBRATE EUROPE!

ALL OVER EUROPE 9 MAY 2013

Every year, 9 May is “Europe Day”, a very special day that our organisation fully celebrates through many activities organised all over Europe. This historic day has become a real European symbol which, along with the flag, the anthem, the motto and the single currency, identifies the political entity of the EU. Therefore, Europe Day is the ideal occasion to carry out and participate in actions that bring Europe closer to its citizens and people closer together. This is a perfect way to come out on the streets and interact with a lot of people, getting the message across: “United in Diversity!”

One year before the European Parliament elections we com-mitted ourself to use the 9 May activities to call for a Europe that is free and united both in democracy and solidarity, to raise awareness on the coming European elections and the pressing European political questions, as well as to act in cooperation with federalist and Pro-European organisations to promote European Federalist values.

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WELCOME CROATIA FLASHMOB ACTION 2013

ALL OVER EUROPE 1 JULY 2013

On 1st July 2013 Croatia joined the European Union and became the 28th Member State. The European Federalists family was aware of this special event and wanted to welcome Croatia properly, celebrating its entry to the European Union. Several street actions and flash-mobs were organised all over Europe, promoted by JEF Europe and AEGEE Europe with the help of their local and regional sections.

We believe that the accession on 1st of July 2013 to the EU was not the only interest of Croatian citizens nor was it the final goal. It is one among many other steps needed to accomplish the idea of a more inclusive and democratic Europe.

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VISA-FREE EUROPE ACTION

SKOPJE 30 SEPTEMBER 2013

“JEF Europe defends the idea of a united Europe as the space where people should move freely”.

The non-coordinated approach on visa policies has significant negative impact and consequences on mobility of young people, on labour market, and increases youth unemployment. Our support goes towards multicultural development and mobility of youth, which is essential in promoting a sense of belonging to Europe, enhancing social exchanges and ensuring a friendly and tolerant society on the European continent. That’s why we continued our annual action “against borders between European countries”, and called, once again, for a “visa-free Europe!”

We ask for the abolition of visas in Europe and calls for inter-mediate reduction of visas and working permits bureaucracy as well as harmonization of visa policies in the EU. Young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey need to invest time and spend a lot of money to receive their visa to follow a training, seminar, conference or university studies in the EU. Even in their personal lives in order to travel to meet up with friends and family, they face many obstacles in the application procedure for visas.

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Training trainers for political youth work Skopje, 16-23 September 2013

Co-organised with JEF-Macedonia, and f inanced by Youth in Action, the project brought together more than 20 participants from Macedonia, Belgium, Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Albania and Sweden. The “Training trainer for political youth work” helped the participants in developing the capacity of new trainers for political youth work re-lated to the EU integration and promotion of European citizenship. “Training trainers for Political youth work” direclty fostered

Ventotene International Seminar 2013 Ventotene, Italy, 1-6 September 2013

JEF-Italy and the Spinelli Institute organised the 30th Ventotene International Seminar from the 1st to the 6th of September. At-tended by 50 young people, the seminar aimed at analyzing the model of governance of the European Union, based on the concept of federalism, with a special focus of youth policies and all cross cutting policies that have an impact on youth lives and sustai-nable future. The objective was also to analyze the situation of the EU today with the true objectives of its creation foreseen from the beginning by Schuman, Spinelli, Adenauer, De Spaak and the other “Founding Fathers of the EU”.

The participants discussed the future of youth policies on national and European levels in order to foster a better knowledge from the participants of European Union his-tory, political system and youth policies and youth issues all across the EU. Finally they shared the best practices in terms of youth active participation in democratic processes.

The Ventotene International Seminar pro-moted European values and intercultural dialogue between participants coming from all over the EU.

the development of a sense of ownership of the European Union among the young people. By introducing a new generation of political youth work trainers on the topic of Europe the training directly raised European awareness. The theme of the training was to provide a space for sharing and developing new concepts of political youth work as the basic precondition for youth participation and European citizenship processes. It addressed youth workers and leaders wor-king in a different cultural and social environ-ment facing the same challenge.

25 ACTIVITIES

Seminars Trainings Other ActivitiesYouth Exchange Programs

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EuroMed Vibes: Back to the roots of Democracy Athens, Greece |14-19 April 2013

Co-organised by JEF Europe and JEF-Gree-ce, the seminar in Athens was financed and supported by the European Youth Founda-tion of the Council of Europe. More than thirty participants gathered together from all over Europe to discuss about the role played by young people in the recent movements for change and the challenges that our genera-tion is facing to maintain a high-level of cultu-ral, political and artistic engagement in a mo-ment in which populism and “qualunquism” are sadly rising throughout Europe.

JEF-Norway: the Nordic Summer Camp Hove, Norway, 11-15 July 2013

JEF-Norway hosted the “Nordic Summer Camp: United 2013” from 11 to 15 July 2013in Hove, Norway. More than 75 young federa-lists gathered to learn more about how a Europe without borders is the key to solve the current unemployment crisis amongst youth. The seminar focused on the rise of extremism in Europe. Lectures were given by speakers from Norwegian Youth Parties, the European Movement and universities. The participants had some insight from the EU delegation of Norway and on what the EU puts in place to fight extremism.

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European Citizenship in United Europe Stockholm, 30 September to 7 October 2013

Co-organised with JEF-Sweden, and f i-nanced and supported by the Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission, the project brought together 25 participants from Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Bul-garia, Spain, Malta and the Netherlands to encourage the development of a critical, de-mocratic and creative European Citizenship as an active social, political and cultural role to construct a shared Europe.

The promotion of European Citizenship has been a long-standing priority of the Young European Federalists and with this course we aimed to explore what were the next steps needed to increase youth’s interest in Europe, with a particular focus on the 2014 EP elections.

JEF International seminar in France: «Culture and Democratic citizenship, Culture of Democratic Citizenship» Paris, France, 26 October -1 November 2013

Financed and Supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, JEF Europe and JEF-France co-organised the international seminar «Culture and De-mocratic citizenship, Culture of Democra-tic Citizenship», which took place in Paris, France at the end of October 2013.The se-minar aimed to explore the links between Culture and Citizenship offering ideas and approaches to participating youth leaders which they can use on local level when working with youth. The seminars’ learning objectives were to share experiences on the topic of intercultural dialogue and the concepts of culture; to introduce the concept of democratic citizenship and explore the links it has with culture; to identify and dis-cuss on differences and similarities between the values of European citizenship and the cultural values of the participants; and finally, to plan potential follow up strategies using the gained knowledge back on local level.

The Cross Border Seminar Lille, France and Kortrijk, Belgium 8-10 November

After last year’s successful edition, the 2013 seminar of the JEF Crossborder Network, consisting of JEF sections from Belgium, the Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Lille and the European Youth Parliament Luxemburg, took place in Lille and Kortrijk. This year we engaged with breaking borders, discussing cross-border activities, as well as populism and nationalism in light of the upcoming Euro-

pean Parliament elections. Highlight of the weekend was a drama group which stopped our bus trip across the border, re-enacting a border control and even arresting one of our members. After the initial shock, breaking borders was much appreciated.

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Seminars Trainings Other ActivitiesYouth Exchange Programs

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Belarus Democracy Training Minsk, 13-17 November 2013

Connected to our year long dedication to the democratic situation in Belarus JEF Europe, together with JEF-Norway, have initiated a close cooperation with our candidate section in Belarus. This seminar aimed at strengthening the democratic understanding and training young people from Belarus on organisational development and interna-tional relations.

28THE NEW FEDERALIST

Since receiving the 2012 European Citizen’s Prize by the European Parliament, “The New Federalist”, our online magazine, has only been growing. The magazine has increased steadily in both hits and article contribution and is today a backbone in the political debates conducted across the borders of Europe by our activists and other youngsters. The online magazine takes the form of a debate forum that invites all youth to contribute, in 4 different language versions possible (DE, EN, FR, IT), with their articles, but also to comment and discuss the articles written by others.

" 2013 has been a great year for The New Federalist, which leaped from an average 85,145 visits per month in January 2013 to 106,135 in January 2014. Our pool of contributors continues to expand, with a particular focus on getting insight from authors all across Europe. The strength of The New Federalist lies in this very dense European network: all mainstream newspapers know what goes on in European capitals, but it takes a truly great network of dedicated young Europeans to provide highlights on what Europeans feel, think and do, everywhere in Europe.

2013 has also been a year of change in the The New Federalist Editorial Board: having accomplished their two-year mandate with dedication and competence, George Kipouros and his team left the floor to me and a new Board. Aspiring contributors are invited to get in touch with us! "

Artus Galiay, Editor in Chief of The New Federalist.

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HERE ARE EXCERPTS OF THE THREE MOST READ ARTICLES IN 2013 OF THE NEW FEDERALIST

IS IT HIGH TIME WE REVISITED THE EU TREATIES?

“Since changing EU Treaties requires a unanimous vote, renego-tiating them would mean re-opening the Pandora box of conflicts and disagreements between ever more numerous member states, who all know they can block the process if they’re unhappy with what they’re getting ( just like David Cameron, who blocked the Fiscal Compact in December 2011). In order to be successful, EU Treaties change would have to happen as part of a wider democratic reform of the EU, which acknowledges that it has several layers and that some countries want to move forward with integration faster than others.”

CROATIA’S ACCESSION TO THE EU

“Enlargement is part of Europe´s DNA: the European Union of today is the result of successive waves of enlargement. This common democratic project started as a means of bringing peace and stability to Europe. For the aspiring countries, the prospect of enlargement is a powerful stimulus for reforms in such crucial areas as the rule of law, good governance, funda-mental rights and freedoms. Croatia’s accession is fresh evidence of the transformative power of the enlargement policy. Torn by conflict only two decades ago, the country is now a stable democracy, capable of taking on the obligations of European Union membership and of adhering to our standards. There is no doubt that the country went through the most rigorous accession process ever, to ensure that it would be prepared by the time it entered the European Union.”

EUROPE AND THE BRITISH MEDIA

“Bruno Waterfield challenged the view that the EU is too boring or complicated to interest people, and argued that behind what he sees as the grey wall of not-so-transparent legislative proce-dures and policy processes there are competing issues and ideologies which are of interest to the general public. Beyond the many preconceptions in his discourse, Waterfield made an argument in favour of more ideology in the EU political debate, something which has too often been limited by the consensual style of politics of the European Parliament. Not everybody might agree with this view, but it is one which is shared by an increasing number of supporters of the EU.”

Thursday 8 August 2013 by Artus Galiay (read 3,179 times)

http://www.thenewfederalist.eu/Is-it-high-time-we-revisited-the-EU-Treaties,05909

Sunday 7 July 2013 by Stefan Füle (read 2,412 times)

http://www.thenewfederalist.eu/Croatia-s-accession-to-the-EU,05867

Thursday 28 November 2013 by Alessandro Fusco (read 1,682 times)

http://www.thenewfederalist.eu/europe-and-the-british-media

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31 FRIENDS OF JEF

We were very much involved in the relaunch of the Friends of JEF e.V., our alumni organisation. An event to gather former members was organised in July 2013 in Brussels and the special edition of the The New Federalist dedicated to the JEF 40th anniversary gave the opportunity to get in touch with former JEFers. This reactivation of the network will be used in the our upcoming fundraising campaign.

FRIENDS OF JEF GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND REUNION

The 3rd General Assembly of Friends of JEF e.V. was held in Brussels on 14 July 2013 following the occasion of the Friends of JEF reunion.

Members reviewed the activities of the organisation, accepted some minor statute changes and elected a new board .The new board for the period 2013-2015 is headed by Jan Seifert (president JEF Europe 2005-7). Paolo Vacca (president JEF Europe 1999-2001) and Till Burckhardt (former JEF Europe treasurer) serve as Vice-Presidents and Philippe Adriaennsens (president JEF Europe 2009-11) as well as Pauline Gessant (current president JEF Europe) as board members.

The new board pledged to consolidate the administrative func-tioning of the organisation and build up a database of JEF alumni to reach out between JEF generations and gain more members.

Brussels, Belgium 14 July 2013

32SUPPORTERS

The Young European Federalists have received the operating support of the Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission in 2013. The Youth in Action Programme also di-rectly funded and supported the following trainings, seminars and projects:

REACHING THE STARS

Different Locations, March 2012 – October 2013

“Reaching the Stars” was an ongoing long-term capacity-buil-ding project financed by the Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission. Over a year and a half, this project aimed at strengthening our network and outreach, and reinforcing the strategic priorities as defined by the organisation. Thousands of young people and youth workers were involved in various trans-national youth initiatives, trainings and networking activities. “Reaching the Stars” generated opportunities for youth workers and young people from all corners of the European continent to acquire quality information about issues of relevance to them. More importantly they were able to gain skills to put the received input into practice in the framework of their local, regional and national organisational context. We aspire to develop a better understanding of the process of European Integration, to advance the implementation of the federalist ideals and concentrate its action on the achievement of international democracy and efficient, democratic and transparent decision-making through respect for federal principles in Europe and beyond. To this end the project also boosted active European citizenship and prioritized the participation of young volunteers.

A series of 12 international activities (the so-called “stars”) covered a variety of topics relevant to strengthen youth organisations. Trainings on topics such as internal/external communication, visi-bility, financial management and the Youth in Action Programme took place in 2012. In 2013 the attention was drawn on activism, growth and development.

YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

TRAINING TRAINERS FOR POLITICAL YOUTH WORK

Skopje, 16-23 September 2013

EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP IN UNITED EUROPE

Stockholm, 30 September to 7 October 2013

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EUROPEAN YOUTH FOUNDATION

The Young European Federalists have received the operating support of the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe in 2013. The European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe also directly funded and supported the following trainings, seminars and projects:

EUROMED VIBES: BACK TO THE ROOTS OF DEMOCRACY

Athens, Greece |14-19 April 2013

JEF INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN FRANCE: «CULTURE AND DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP,

CULTURE OF DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP»

Paris, France | 26 October-1 November 2013

34PARTNERS

EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUMDuring the past years our organisation had a strong involvement in the Youth Forum’s activities. We contributed to all policies in development as well as the work plan, were represented in all major youth political events and are present in the working struc-tures of the European Youth Forum. Federico Guerrieri continues to work in the Working Group Funding to defend our needs in the future programmes, while Stefan Manevski and Martin Fischer are members of the Pool of Trainers, facilitating our policy and advocacy also towards other member organisations of YFJ.

THE YOUNG EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS AT THE COMEM OF THE EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUM Thessaloniki, 21-23 November 2013

Our Secretary General, Federico Guerrieri, represented JEF at the Council of Members meeting (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum which took place in Thessaloniki from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2013.

YO! FEST 2013 - EUROPEAN YOUTH WEEK Brussels, Belgium, 30 May - 1 June 2013

We took part in The YO!Fest2013 that celebrated the role of young people and youth organisations in building a democratic Europe. In this frame a number of activities were organised in Brussels in connection to the 25th Anniversary of the EU Youth Programmes and to the Launch of the “League of the Young Voters” in Europe.

LAUNCH OF EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUM’S EUROPEAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN – LOVEYOUTHFUTURE European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, 15 October 2013

Our organisation was present at the Launch of the European Youth Forum’s European Election Campaign. Federico Guer-rieri, the Secretary General of JEF Europe, was selected in the LoveYouthFuture task force of the European Youth Forum.

LEAGUE OF YOUNG VOTERS JEF EUROPE AT THE CAPACITY BUILDING MEETING Brussels, Belgium 31 January – 2 February 2013

Our Secretary General, Fede-rico Guerrieri, took part in the capacity building meeting of the League of Young Voters

What is The League of Young Voters (LYV) and what is its aim? The League of Young Vo-ters is a network of national youth councils, national and in-ternational organisations coor-dinated by the Youth Forum which aims to reverse the trend of ever-decreasing youth participation at the EP elec-tions by increasing the level of youth-related information available about the elections and also by encouraging po-litical parties and candidates to directly target young people in their campaigns.

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UNION OF EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS

Pauline Gessant, our President was part of the UEF European board as ex officio member. We were represented at all UEF statutory meetings and had regular contacts with UEF President and Secretariat. A joint Federal Committee meeting (Leuven 2012) and two joint pan-European actions were organised in cooperation with UEF in order to strengthen the links with our “mother” European organisation. We also contributed to the UEF training weekend in March 2013 in Brussels which was opened to our members. Federalist receptions were organised with UEF in Brussels twice a year in the presence of high-profile European politicians.

UEF SUMMER RECEPTION WITH VIVIANE READING Brussels, Belgium | September 2013

UNION OF EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS: XXIV EUROPEAN CONGRESS

Berlin, Germany, 15-17 November 2013

EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL

The President of JEF Europe, Pauline Gessant, was elected as member of the EMI Board, represented the organisation at all EMI statutory meetings and had regular contacts with EMI Pre-sidents and Secretariats.

FEDERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL

Dublin, Ireland, 24-25 May 2013

EMI CONGRESS Montenegro, 21-23 November

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ASSOCIATION DES ÉTATS GÉNÉRAUX DES ÉTUDIANTS DE L’EUROPEWe further intensified our cooperation with AEGEE. AEGEE contributed to our visa, Belarus and Croatia actions and handed in common resolutions submitted to EMI. The Executive Board participated in AEGEE agora meetings and thematic conferences. Furthermore JEF and AEGEE are cooperating to develop the topic of Youth Rights further, as well as the common goal of enhancing the participation of International Youth Organisations in the Structured Dialogue.

CO-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR YOUTH INSIDE THE EU Brussels, Belgium, 5-6 June 2013

The European Secretariat participated in a conference whose aim was to discuss the possibility of setting up a system within the European Institutions to permit young people to take up a more active role in the decision-making process of the European Union, a so called “co-management system”.

THE SPINELLI GROUPJEF DEBATE «HANDS OFF MY ERASMUS!» European Parliament, Brussels, 16 October 2013

The idea behind this debate, organised by the Spinelli Group in partnership with JEF Europe was to show how mobility is useful for active European citizenship.

POLITICAL PARTY YOUTH ORGANISATIONS (PPYOS)

37 EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION

AND LOBBYINGJOINT EMI-UEF-JEF PETITION

A hearing for the joint EMI-UEF-JEF Petition took place in the European Parliament on 24 September involving ECON and AFCO committees. This petition calls on the European Parliament under Article 48(2) of the TEU, to initiate the for-mation of a fiscal union. It was the second hearing organised in the European Parliament and was considered by the MEPs as well as the represen-tative of the Commission as a valuable contribution to the debate on the future of EMU.

ADVISORY COUNCIL ON YOUTH OF THE

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Ruben Loodts (at that time JEF Treasurer) was Chair of the Programming Committee of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.

EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE DAY 2013

Brussels, Belgium, 9 April

We attended a meeting or-ganised by the European Economic and Social Com-mittee to assess the first year after the launch of the Euro-pean Citizens Initiative, draw conclusions from the lessons learnt and devise intermediate solutions.

EUROPEAN “CITZENS SUMMIT” 2013 Bozar building in Brussels,

Belgium, 24 & 25 June 2013

Our organisation took part in the first European Citizens Summit taking place in Bozar, Brussels on 24 and 25 of June 2013.

A CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE FROM THE

MEPS NOW! Brussels, 26 June 2013

Hundreds of European Fede-ralists from several different countries took part in the event co-organised by JEF Europe, the UEF and the Spi-nelli Group to encourage the EP and especially the Spinel-li Group to take an initiative in this direction in order that a European Constitutional Convention for drawing up a new Treaty can be convened as soon as possible.

EU CITIZENSHIP: CROSSING PERSPECTIVES Zagreb, Croatia, 8th July 2013

The European Secretariat was present at European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA) confe-rence aiming at debating and sharing views on EU citizenship in the context of Croatia’s en-trance in the European Union.

JEF-ITALY: PETITION TO THE

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FOR A EUROPEAN

DAY OF MOURNING Italy, October 2013

JEF Italy submitted a petition to the European Parliament, asking for a European Day of Mourning and for the crea-tion of a European policy for immigration, supporting the accident in Lampedusa.

CONFERENCE EUROPE’S FUTURE - YOUR FUTURE

Berlin, Germany, October 2013

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung, in cooperation with the Young European Federalists, the Fe-deration of Young European Greens (FYEG) and European Alternatives, organised the “Youth Congress Europe’s Future – Your Future”.

38PUBLICATIONS

PUBLICATIONS

• A specific paper edition of The New Federalist was is-sued to look back at the 40 past years of JEF contribution to the European construction. It included interviews of former and current JEF members.

• European Movement Interna-tional’s Academy newsletter: In the midst of winter… A Union of the people, for the people, by the people, by Pauline Gessant and Peter Oomsels, December 2014

• Fabian Society Next Gene-ration Europe Report: With arms outstretched, about the democratic deficit young people face in engaging with European institutions, Pauline Gessant, April 2013

Young European Federalists celebrate the 9th May and recall the necessity of a federal Europe, 8 May 2013

JEF Europe condemns use of excessive force against peaceful protestors in Turkey, 3 June 2013

Joint Declaration by JEF Europe, JE-France, JEF-Deutschland, 25 June 2013

Young Europeans welcome Croatia, 28 June 2013

Lampedusa, the responsibi-lity of the EU and its Member-States, 8 October 2013

JEF re-elects Pauline Gessant as President, 5 November 2013

Spanish government should reconsider position on Erasmus grants, 6 November 2013

JEF supports pro-EU de-monstrations in Ukraine, 28 November 2013

NO to veto on Albania’s Candidate Status, 16 December 2013

A NEW VISUAL IDENTITY

At the Congress in Paris our member sections voted for a logo change for the organisa-tion, and thus for embracing our new visual profile. It has been a long road to get there but the positive feedback from both our own members and our partners have assured us that the time was ripe. In the coming months and years more and more sections will adopt the new logo as their own.

To accompany our logo change we have also launched a new website at jef.eu and loads of visual materials such as post cards, banners, stic-kers and more.

PRESS RELEASES

“European Parliament, your time has come”, 12 February 2013

Europe’s youth demands freedom in Belarus, 12 March 2013

European youth for freedom and democracy in Belarus, 18 March 2013

This project has been fun-ded with support from the Youth in Action programme of the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the in-formation contained therein.

In 2013 the Young European Federalists have received fi-nancial support by the Euro-pean Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The content of this publication does not ne-cessarily reflect the views of the Council of Europe.

40

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YOUR LOGO COULD BE HERE! JEF is financed through Youth in Action funds and grants from the European Youth Foundation.

We are always looking for new private partners.

Get in touch for more information

[email protected] WWW.JEF.EU

Documents

JEF Annual Report