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121-618: A federal Europe , also referred to as the United States of Europe ( USE ), European State , or a European federation , is a hypothetical scenario of European integration leading to the formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of America ), organised as a federation of the member countries of the European Union (EU), as contemplated by political scientists, politicians, geographers, historians, futurologists and fiction writers. At present, while

242-506: A Harvard University associate professor of government and social studies, uses it unapologetically in the title of his book The Idea of a European Superstate: Public Justification and European Integration. While Morgan's text focuses on the security implications of a unified Europe, a number of other recent texts focus on the economic implications of such an entity. Important recent texts here include T. R. Reid 's The United States of Europe and Jeremy Rifkin 's The European Dream. Neither

363-528: A United States of Europe . The same speech however contains remarks, less-often quoted, which make it clear that Churchill did not initially see Britain as being part of this United States of Europe: We British have our own Commonwealth of Nations   ... And why should there not be a European group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism and common citizenship to the distracted peoples of this turbulent and mighty continent and why should it not take its rightful place with other great groupings in shaping

484-550: A small power . In his book The EU As a Small Power , he argues that the EU is a response to and function of Europe's unique historical experience in that the EU contains the remnants of not one but five past European orders. Although the 1990s and early 2000s have shown that there is policy space for greater EU engagement in European security, the EU has been unable to meet these expectations. Asle Toje expresses particular concerns over

605-641: A "United States of Europe" regarded European unification as a logical continuation of the unification of Italy . Mazzini created the Young Europe movement. The term "United States of Europe" ( French : États-Unis d'Europe ) was used by Victor Hugo , including during a speech at the International Peace Congress held in Paris in 1849. Hugo favoured the creation of "a supreme, sovereign senate, which will be to Europe what parliament

726-556: A "United States of Europe" by 2025. In 1992, Dutch businessman Freddy Heineken , after consulting with historians of the University of Leiden , Henk Wesseling and Willem van den Doel published a brochure " United States of Europe, Eurotopia? ". In his work he put forward the idea of creating the United States of Europe as a confederation of 75 states that would be formed according to an ethnic and linguistic principle with

847-435: A "United States of Europe" in 1946 being a notable example. This period saw the formation of theories around European integration, categorizing into proto-integration, explaining integration, analyzing governance, and constructing the EU, reflecting a shift from viewing European integration as a unique process, to incorporating broader international relations and comparative politics theories. Citizens' organizations have played

968-549: A 1929 speech by saying that "the United States of Europe will represent, even without Russia, a power strong enough to advance, up to a satisfactory point, the prosperity of the other continents as well". Between the two world wars , the Polish statesman Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) envisaged the idea of a European federation that he called Międzymorze ("Intersea" or "Between-seas"), known in English as Intermarium , which

1089-618: A Europe united along communist principles. Among liberal-democratic parties, the French centre-left undertook several initiatives to group like-minded parties from the European states. In 1927, the French mathematician and politician Émile Borel , a leader of the centre-left Radical Party and the founder of the Radical International, set up a French Committee for European Cooperation, and a further twenty countries set up equivalent committees. However, it remained an élite venture:

1210-460: A European Federation. Contrary to movements like the UEF or the former EFP, Stand Up for Europe does not command any national levels anymore, but only consists of regional city teams and the European level. Volt Europa describes itself a pan-European, progressive movement that stands for a new and inclusive way of doing politics and that wants to bring change for European citizens. The party claims that

1331-426: A Nation " in his book The Alternative in 1947. He argued that the traditional vision of nationalism that had been followed by the various shades of pre-war fascism had been too narrow in scope and that the post-war era required a new paradigm in which Europe would come together as a single state. In October 1948 when Mosley called for elections to a European Assembly as the first step towards his vision. Nation Europa

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1452-774: A constitution, while the Unionist United Europe Movement advocated a consultative body; the Federalists prevailed at the Congress of Europe. The primary accomplishment of the Congress of Europe was the European Court of Human Rights , which predates the European Union. The Union Movement was a British party founded by Oswald Mosley after the dissolution of his British Union of Fascists . Mosley first presented his idea of " Europe

1573-499: A federal Europe (as a form of enhanced cooperation). In other words, a core federal Europe would exist within the current EU. He also states that these core states should federalise the following five policy areas: a European social-economic policy, technology cooperation, a common justice and security policy, a common diplomacy and a European army . Following the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon (December 2009) by all member states of

1694-524: A federal Europe in his Ventotene Manifesto , and Paul Valéry envisioning European civilization for unity. State sovereignty was an issue for federalists who hoped political organizations at higher regional level would solve the issue. A representative scholar of functionalism was David Mitrany , who also saw states and their sovereignty as a core problem and believed that one should restrain states to prevent future wars. However, Mitrany disagreed with regional integration as he viewed it as mere replication of

1815-537: A higher social class. The contention with feudalism began once the merchants and guild artisans grew in numbers and power. Once they organized themselves, they began opposing the fees imposed on them by the nobles and clergy. This development led to new ideas and eventually established the Bourgeoisie class which Marx opposes. Commerce began to change the form of production and markets began to shift in order to support larger production and profits. This change led to

1936-450: A kind of United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life worth living. While Churchill advocated a united Europe, he saw Britain and its Commonwealth, along with the United States of America, and Soviet Russia as "the friends and sponsors of the new Europe", separate to a United States of Europe led by France and Germany. As early as 21 October 1942, in

2057-441: A minute to his Foreign Secretary, Winston Churchill had written, "I look forward to a United States of Europe in which the barriers between the nations will be greatly minimised and unrestricted travel will be possible". Churchill's was a more cautious approach ("the unionist position") to European integration than was the continental approach that was known as "the federalist position". The Federalists advocated full integration with

2178-415: A new pan-European approach is needed to overcome current and future challenges, such as – among others – climate change, economic inequality, migration, international conflict, terrorism, and the impact of the technological revolution on jobs. Volt says that national parties are powerless in front of these challenges, because they go beyond national borders and need to be tackled by Europeans, as one people. As

2299-450: A population of 5 to 10 million people. Some people, such as T. R. Reid , Andrew Reding and Mark Leonard , have argued that the power of a hypothetical United States of Europe could potentially rival that of the United States of America in the twenty-first century. Leonard cites several factors: Europe's large population , the scale of the combined Europe's economy , Europe's low inflation rates, Europe's central geographic location in

2420-485: A proletarian class consciousness , rather than having proletarian social attributes (such as being an industrial worker). In this way of defining the proletariat, a proletarian class consciousness could be developed through a subjective standpoint with political education supplied by the Chinese Communist Party . This conception of the proletariat allowed for a Marxist theoretical framing under which

2541-694: A provocation against all those who didn't want the European Constitution. Fortunately, in the end a solution was found with the treaty, that was approved". In 2012, Viviane Reding , the Luxembourgish Vice-president of the European Commission called in a speech in Passau Germany and in a series of articles and interviews for the establishment of the United States of Europe as a way to strengthen

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2662-406: A range of prestigious figures. Many eminent economists, aware that the economic race-to-the-bottom between states was creating ever-greater instability, supported the view: these included John Maynard Keynes . The French political scientist and economist Bertrand Jouvenel remembered a widespread mood after 1924 calling for a "harmonisation of national interests along the lines of European union, for

2783-435: A register of citizens and their property, which determined their military duties and voting privileges. Those who owned 11,000 assēs (coins) or fewer fell below the lowest category for military service, and their children— prōlēs (offspring)—were listed instead of property; hence the name proletarius (producer of offspring). Roman citizen-soldiers paid for their own horses and arms, and fought without payment for

2904-400: A richer, freer, more contented European commonality. But we have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked but not compromised. We are interested and associated but not absorbed. During the 1930s, Churchill was influenced by and became an advocate of the ideas of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi and his Paneuropean Union , though Churchill did not advocate

3025-664: A role in advocating further European integration, exemplified by the Union of European Federalists and the European Movement International . Various agreements and memberships demonstrate the web of relations and commitments between European countries, showing the multi-layered nature of integration. In antiquity, the Roman Empire brought about integration of multiple European and Mediterranean territories. The numerous subsequent claims of succession of

3146-451: A series of revolutions by the bourgeois which resulted in capitalism. Marx argues that this same model can and should be applied to the fight for the proletariat. Forming unions similar to how the merchants and artisans did will establish enough power to enact change. Ultimately, Marx's theory of the proletarian's struggle would eventually lead to the fall of capitalism and the emergence of a new mode of production, socialism. Marx argued that

3267-821: A speech before the Assembly of the League of Nations in which he proposed the idea of a federation of European nations based on solidarity and in the pursuit of economic prosperity and political and social co-operation. At the League's request, Briand presented in 1930 his "Memorandum on the Organization of a Regime of European Federal Union" for the Government of France. In the early 1930s, French politician Édouard Herriot and British civil servant Arthur Salter both penned books titled The United States of Europe . After

3388-824: A supreme court ( European Court of Justice  – but only in matters of European Union law or areas affected by it), a common legislature in the form of the directly elected European Parliament and the Council of the EU (of national ministers, one Council for each policy area) representing Member States, and numerous agencies and other bodies to implement European law and coordinate policies (such as EIROforum in research, with members like CERN ). European Law also takes precedence over national law in all areas granted to it by member states (but not otherwise), ranging from energy and environmental policy to consumer rights and criminal justice. There are few domestic policies that are not impacted in some way by European Law agreed by

3509-485: A transnational party, it believes it can help the European people unite, create a shared vision and understanding, exchange good practices across the continent, and come up with working policies. Volt Europa is the first European federalist movement to have elected members in two national parliaments, namely in the Netherlands and Bulgaria, as well as having elected five MEPs from Germany and the Netherlands. Following

3630-596: A treaty signed in The Hague on 3 February 1958. A Benelux Parliament was created in 1955. The Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) can be seen as a forerunner of the Benelux. BLEU was created by the treaty signed on 25 July 1921. It established a single market between both countries, while setting the Belgian franc and Luxembourgian franc at a fixed parity. Several regional organisations have been founded in

3751-522: Is a European non-governmental organisation campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, national and local levels for more than 50 years. A young branch called the Young European Federalists also exists in 30 countries of Europe. The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with

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3872-654: Is a free association of sovereign states (a de facto, but not de jure, confederation) designed to further their shared aims. Other than the vague aim of "ever closer union" in the Solemn Declaration on European Union , the EU (meaning its member governments) has no current policy to form a federal union. However, in the past Jean Monnet , a person associated with the EU and its predecessor the European Economic Community , did make such proposals. A wide range of other terms are in use to describe

3993-542: Is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. The European Federalist Party is a pro-European , pan-European and federalist political party which advocates further integration of the EU and the establishment of a Federal Europe. Its aim is to gather all Europeans to promote European federalism and to participate in all elections all over Europe. It has national sections in 15 countries. Volt Europa

4114-428: Is a pan-European and European federalist political movement that also serves as the pan-European structure for subsidiary parties in EU member states. It is present in 29 countries and participates in elections all over the EU on the local, national and European level. There are various agreements with overlapping membership. Several countries take part in a larger number of agreements than others. All member states of

4235-408: Is based on the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie: the workers, who own no means of production, must use the property of others to produce goods and services and to earn their living. Workers cannot rent the means of production (e.g. a factory or department store) to produce on their own account; rather, capitalists hire workers, and the goods or services produced become the property of

4356-460: Is much less useful, but requires hundreds of hours of mining and cutting, and is therefore expensive. The same goes for the workers' labor power: it is valued not for the amount of wealth it produces, but for the amount of labor necessary to keep the workers fed, housed, sufficiently trained, and able to raise children as new workers. On the other hand, capitalists earn their wealth not as a function of their personal labor, which may even be null, but by

4477-685: Is organised by the association Esprit d'Europe and supported by former President of the European Commission Jacques Delors . The prize money was €20,000. The prize was declared at the European Parliament in Brussels on 5 December 2007. Swedish crime fiction writer Henning Mankell was the president of the jury of European journalists for choosing the first recipient. While receiving the reward, Verhofstadt said: "When I wrote this book, I in fact meant it as

4598-486: Is to England" and said: "A day will come when all nations on our continent will form a European brotherhood ... A day will come when we shall see ... the United States of America and the United States of Europe face to face, reaching out for each other across the seas". During his exile from France, Hugo planted a tree in the grounds of his residence on the Island of Guernsey and was noted in saying that when this tree matured

4719-480: Is to sell their labour power for a wage or salary . Marxist theory only vaguely defines the borders between the proletariat and adjacent social classes. In the socially superior, less progressive direction are the lower petty bourgeoisie , such as small shopkeepers, who rely primarily on self-employment at an income comparable to an ordinary wage. Intermediate positions are possible, where wage-labor for an employer combines with self-employment. In another direction,

4840-474: The Comitia Centuriata ( Centuriate Assembly ), proletarii were the lowest class, largely deprived of voting rights. Not only did proletarii have less voting "weight" in the various elections, but since voting ran hierarchically starting with the highest social ranks, a majority could be reached early and their votes never even taken. Late Roman historians such as Livy vaguely described

4961-617: The Comitia Centuriata as a popular assembly of early Rome composed of centuriae , voting units representing classes of citizens according to wealth. This assembly, which usually met on the Campus Martius to discuss public policy, designated the military duties of Roman citizens. One of the reconstructions of the Comitia Centuriata features 18 centuriae of cavalry, and 170 centuriae of infantry divided into five classes by wealth, plus 5 centuriae of support personnel called adsidui , one of which represented

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5082-406: The proletarii . In battle, the cavalry brought their horses and arms, the top infantry class full arms and armour, the next two classes less, the fourth class only spears, the fifth slings, while the assisting adsidui held no weapons. If unanimous, the cavalry and top infantry class were enough to decide an issue. A deeper reconstruction incorporating social backgrounds found that the senators,

5203-560: The National Review nor the Chronicle of Higher Education doubt the appropriateness of the term in their reviews. Various federalist organisations have been created over time supporting the idea of a federal Europe. These include the Union of European Federalists , the European Movement International , the (former) European Federalist Party , Stand Up For Europe and Volt Europa . The Union of European Federalists (UEF)

5324-1023: The Black Sea region since the fall of the Soviet Union, such as: The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) aims to ensure peace, stability and prosperity by encouraging friendly and good-neighbourly relations among the 12 state members, located mainly in the Black Sea region. It was created on 25 June 1992 in Istanbul, and entered into force on 1 May 1999. The 11 founding members were Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Serbia (then Serbia and Montenegro) joined in April 2004. Proletariat Karl Marx argued that this capitalist oppression gives

5445-706: The Comintern (1919), to the Labour and Socialist International (1921) to the Radical and Democratic Entente of centre-left progressive parties (1924), to the Green International of farmers' parties (1923), to the centre-right International Secretariat of Democratic Parties inspired by Christianity (1925). While the remit of these international bodies was global, the predominance of political parties from Europe meant that they facilitated interaction between

5566-762: The European Council approved the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) following a communication from the European Commission . The EUSBSR was the first macro-regional strategy in Europe. The Strategy aims to reinforce cooperation within the Baltic Sea Region, to address challenges together, and to promote balanced development in the Region. The Strategy contributes to major EU policies, including Europe 2020 , and reinforces integration within

5687-601: The European Union and its policies. The history of European integration is marked by the Roman Empire 's consolidation of European and Mediterranean territories, which set a precedent for the notion of a unified Europe. This idea was echoed through attempts at unity, such as the Holy Roman Empire , the Hanseatic League , and the Napoleonic Empire . The devastation of World War I reignited

5808-506: The European Union . It has a common executive (the European Commission ) to oversee execution of policies and to verify compliance with Treaty obligations, including a single High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy . It has a common European Security and Defence Policy , a single internal market for goods and services, freedom of movement of persons for work, a European citizenship granting European rights,

5929-625: The New Order , the Greater Germanic Reich and Generalplan Ost - did not survive the war. At the end of World War II, the continental political climate favoured unity in democratic European countries, seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent. In a speech delivered on 19 September 1946 at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, Winston Churchill postulated

6050-526: The Ventotene Manifesto , encouraging a federation of European states. The European Confederation ( German : Europäischer Staatenbund ) was a proposed political institution of European unity, which was to be part of a wider restructuring ( Neuordnung ). Proposed by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in March 1943, the concept was rejected by Führer Adolf Hitler . Also in 1943

6171-439: The commonwealth , but the only military contribution of a proletarius was his children, the future Roman citizens who could colonize conquered territories. Officially, propertyless citizens were called capite censi because they were "persons registered not as to their property...but simply as to their existence as living individuals, primarily as heads ( caput ) of a family." Although explicitly included by name in

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6292-660: The communist revolution in Russia, Leon Trotsky foresaw a "Federated Republic of Europe — the United States of Europe", created by the proletariat . Following the First World War , some thinkers and visionaries again began to float the idea of a politically unified Europe. A Pan-European movement gained some momentum from the 1920s with the creation of the Paneuropean Union , based on Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi 's 1923 manifesto Paneuropa , which presented

6413-441: The lumpenproletariat or "rag-proletariat", which Marx considers a retrograde class, live in the informal economy outside of legal employment: the poorest outcasts of society such as beggars, tricksters, entertainers, buskers, criminals and prostitutes. Socialist parties have often argued over whether they should organize and represent all the lower classes, or only the wage-earning proletariat. According to Marxism, capitalism

6534-437: The 1930s and unable to put their ideas into practice, many would find themselves in power in the 1940s and 1950s, and better-placed to put into effect their earlier remedies against economic and political crisis. During World War II (1939–1945) Nazi Germany came to dominate - directly or indirectly - much of Europe at various times. The plans for German-oriented political, social, and economic integration of Europe - such as

6655-419: The 1960s. Intergovernmentalism and later, Liberal Intergovernmentalism , developed in the 1980s by Andrew Moravcsik focus on governmental actors' impacts that are enhanced by supranational institutions but not restrained from them. The important debate between neofunctionalism and (liberal) intergovernmentalism still remains central in understanding the development and setbacks of the European integration. As

6776-544: The Balkans as well as the Latin Monetary Union . Following the catastrophe of the First World War of 1914–1918, thinkers and visionaries from a range of political traditions again began to float the idea of a politically unified Europe. In the early 1920s a range of international organisations were founded (or re-founded) to help like-minded political parties to coordinate their activities. These ranged from

6897-501: The Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was founded in 1992 to promote intergovernmental cooperation among Baltic Sea countries in questions concerning economy, civil society development, human rights issues, and nuclear and radiation safety. It has 12 members including Denmark , Estonia , Finland , Germany , Iceland (since 1995), Latvia , Lithuania , Norway , Poland , Russia , Sweden and the European Commission . In 2009

7018-627: The Danish autonomous territories of Faroe Islands since 1 January 1966. The following political and/or economic organisations have been in the Baltic region in the post-modern era : The Baltic Assembly aims to promote co-operation between the parliaments of the Baltic states , namely the Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The organisation was planned in Vilnius on 1 December 1990, and

7139-558: The EU into a federation of nation states (56% versus 27%). In The Old Earth , the third volume (1911) of Jerzy Żuławski 's The Lunar Trilogy , the USE is a communist state. European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe , or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through

7260-604: The EU is and how it operates. For example, new theory multi-level governance (MLG) was developed to understand the workings and development of the EU. The third phase of integration theory marked a return of International Relations theory with the rise of critical and constructivist approaches in the 1990s. Perspectives from social constructivists, post-structuralists, critical theories, feminist theories are incorporated in integration theories to conceptualize European integration process of widening and deepening. Various federalist organisations have been created over time supporting

7381-487: The EU is not a federation, various academic observers regard it as having some of the characteristics of a federal system . Various versions of the concept have developed over the centuries, many of which are mutually incompatible (inclusion or exclusion of the United Kingdom, secular or religious union, etc.). Such proposals include those from Bohemian King George of Poděbrady in 1464; Duc de Sully of France in

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7502-459: The EU should also make decisions on defense. 44% of respondents support the future development of the European Union as a federation of nation states, 35% are opposed. The Nordic countries were the most negative towards a united Europe in this study, as 73% of the Nordics opposed the idea. A large majority of the people for whom the EU conjures up a positive image support the further development of

7623-432: The EU's security and defence dimension Common Security and Defence Policy , where attempts at pooling resources and forming a political consensus have failed to generate the results expected. These trends, combined with shifts in global power patterns, are seen to have been accompanied by a shift in EU strategic thinking whereby great power ambitions have been scaled down and replaced by a tendency towards hedging vis-à-vis

7744-548: The EU, the outline of a common diplomatic service, known as the External Action Service of the European Union (EEAS) , was set in place. On 20 February 2009, the European Parliament also voted in favour of the creation of Synchronised Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a forming a true European military force. Verhofstadt's book was awarded the first Europe Book Prize , which

7865-472: The European Court of Justice) is also independent of the EU. It is an element of the Council of Europe , which like ESA counts EU members and non-members alike in its membership. The European Political Community is an intergovernmental organization which was founded in 2022 and calls for greater cooperation among European nations, with 47 European states participating. At present, the European Union

7986-640: The European Union (EU) are members of the: have organizations that are members of the: have organisations that are members, associated partners or observers of the are located in the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) 21 states are part of the Eurozone or in ERM II without Euro opt-out. These are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,

8107-533: The First World War, Winston Churchill had seen continental Europe as a source of threats and sought to avoid the United Kingdom's involvement in European conflicts. On 15 February 1930, Churchill commented in the American journal The Saturday Evening Post that a "European Union" was possible between continental states, but without the United Kingdom's involvement: We see nothing but good and hope in

8228-586: The Italian Fascists proposed the creation of a 'European Community' free of British 'intrigues' at their Congress of Verona in their newly declared Salo Republic (Mussolini having been rescued from captivity). Churchill used the term "United States of Europe" in a speech delivered on 19 September 1946 at the University of Zurich , Switzerland. In this speech given after the end of the Second World War, Churchill concluded: We must build

8349-430: The League's request, Briand presented a Memorandum on the organisation of a system of European Federal Union . The next year the future French prime minister Édouard Herriot published his book The United States of Europe . Indeed, a template for such a system already existed, in the form of the 1921 Belgian and Luxembourgish customs and monetary union. Support for the proposals by the French centre-left came from

8470-484: The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. They are all members of or take part in: [REDACTED] Some agreements that are mostly related to countries of the European continent, are also valid in territories outside the continent. Not listed below are agreements if their scope is beyond geographic Europe only because the agreement includes: List: Several regional integration efforts have effectively promoted intergovernmental cooperation and reduced

8591-638: The Region. Since the end of the First World War the following unions have been set in the Low Countries region: The Benelux is an economic and political union between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. On 5 September 1944, a treaty establishing the Benelux Customs Union was signed. It entered into force in 1948, and ceased to exist on 1 November 1960, when it was replaced by the Benelux Economic Union after

8712-577: The Roman Empire , even the iterations of the Classical Empire and its ancient peoples, have occasionally been reinterpreted in the light of post-1950 European integration as providing inspiration and historical precedents. Important examples include the Holy Roman Empire , the Hanseatic League , the Peace of Westphalia , the Napoleonic Empire , and the unification of Germany , Italy , and

8833-553: The United Kingdom's membership of such a union. (Churchill revisited the idea in 1946). During the World War II victories of Nazi Germany in 1940, Wilhelm II stated that "the hand of God is creating a new world & working miracles. ... We are becoming the United States of Europe under German leadership, a united European Continent". In 1941, the Italian anti-fascists Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi finished writing

8954-457: The United States of Europe would become a possibility". "United States of Europe" was also the name of the concept presented by Wojciech Jastrzębowski in About eternal peace between the nations , published 31 May 1831. The project consisted of 77 articles. The envisioned United States of Europe was to be an international organisation rather than a superstate. Giuseppe Mazzini , an early advocate of

9075-476: The United States of Europe would have come into being. This tree to this day is still growing in the gardens of Maison de Hauteville, St. Peter Port , Guernsey. In 1867, Giuseppe Garibaldi and John Stuart Mill joined Victor Hugo at the first congress of the League of Peace and Freedom in Geneva . Here the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin stated: "That in order to achieve the triumph of liberty, justice and peace in

9196-532: The adherents of a given ideology across European borders. Within each political tradition, voices emerged advocating not merely the cooperation of various national parties, but the pursuit of political institutions at the European level. One of the first to articulate this view was Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi , who outlined a conservative vision of European unity in his Pan-Europa manifesto (1923). The First Paneuropean Congress took place in Vienna in 1926, and

9317-498: The association possessed 8000 members by the time of the 1929 Wall Street Crash . They envisaged a specifically Christian, and by implication Catholic, Europe. The British civil-servant and future Conservative minister Arthur Salter published a book advocating The United States of Europe in 1933. In contrast the Soviet commissar (minister) Leon Trotsky raised the slogan "For a Soviet United States of Europe" in 1923, advocating

9438-424: The capitalist, who sells them at the market. Part of the net selling price pays the workers' wages (variable costs); a second part renews the means of production (constant costs, capital investment); while the third part is consumed by the capitalist class, split between the capitalist's personal profit and fees to other owners (rents, taxes, interest on loans, etc.). The struggle over the first part (wage rates) puts

9559-407: The concept of a unified Europe, leading to the establishment of international organizations aimed at political coordination across Europe. The interwar period saw politicians such as Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi and Aristide Briand advocating for European unity, albeit with differing visions. Post-World War II Europe saw a significant push towards integration, with Winston Churchill 's call for

9680-504: The destinies of men?   ... France and Germany must take the lead together. Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America[,] and I trust Soviet Russia—for then indeed all would be well—must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe and must champion its right to live and shine. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. In this way only, will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain

9801-421: The early 19th century, many Western European liberal scholars—who dealt with social sciences and economics—pointed out the socio-economic similarities of the modern rapidly growing industrial worker class and the classic proletarians. One of the earliest analogies can be found in the 1807 paper of French philosopher and political scientist Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais . Later it was translated to English with

9922-543: The emerging multi-polar international order. According to Eurobarometer (2013), 69% of citizens of the EU were in favour of direct elections of the President of the European Commission and 46% support the creation of a united EU army. Two thirds of respondents think that the EU (instead of a national government alone) should make decisions on foreign policy and more than half of respondents think that

10043-472: The empirical world has changed, so have the theories and thus the understanding of European Integration. The second generation of integration theorists focused on the importance of institutions and their impacts on both integration process and European governance development. The second phase brought in perspectives from comparative politics in addition to traditional International Relations theoretical references. Studies attempted to understand what kind of polity

10164-472: The euro. The non-EU member states of Kosovo and Montenegro adopted the euro unilaterally. Several pan-European institutions exist separate from the EU. The European Space Agency counts almost all EU member states in its membership, but it is independent of the EU and its membership includes nations that are not EU members, notably Switzerland, Norway and as a result of Brexit , the United Kingdom. The European Court of Human Rights (not to be confused with

10285-455: The former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer have said (in 2000) that he believes that in the end, the EU must become a single federation , with its political leader chosen by direct elections among all of its citizens. However, claims that the then-proposed Treaty of Nice aimed to create a "European superstate" were rejected by former United Kingdom European Commissioner Chris Patten and by many member-state governments. (As of 2023,

10406-477: The goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. The European Federalist Party was a pro-European, pan-European and federalist political party from 2011 to 2016 which advocated further integration of the European Union. As the successor movement of the European Federalist Party , Stand Up For Europe is a pan-European NGO that advocates the foundation of

10527-513: The great powers. The author uses the case of the EUFOR intervention in Darfur and Chad to illustrate that the EU's effectiveness is hampered by a consensus–expectations gap , owing primarily to the lack of an effective decision-making mechanism. In his view, the sum of these developments is that the EU – in the current situation – will not be a great power and is taking the place of a small power in

10648-497: The idea of a federal Europe. These include the Union of European Federalists , the Young European Federalists , the European Movement International , the European Federalist Party , and Volt Europa . The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a European non-governmental organisation, campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, national and local levels for more than 50 years. The European Movement International

10769-759: The idea of a unified European State. This movement, led by Coudenhove-Kalergi and subsequently by Otto von Habsburg , is the oldest European unification movement. In 1923, the Austrian Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi founded the Pan-Europa Movement and hosted the First Paneuropean Congress, held in Vienna in 1926. The aim was for a Europe based on the principles of liberalism , Christianity and social responsibility . His ideas influenced Aristide Briand , French Prime Minister , who gave on 8 September 1929

10890-672: The individuals who depended on their labor power. Marx argues that these relations between the exploiters and exploited results in different modes of production and the successive stages in history. These modes of production in which mankind gains power over nature is distinguished into five different systems: the Primitive Community, Slave State, Feudal State, Capitalist System, and finally the Socialist Society. The transition between these systems were all due to an increase in civil unrest among those who felt oppressed by

11011-474: The international relations of Europe, and to render civil war impossible among the various peoples who make up the European family, only a single course lies open: to constitute the United States of Europe". The French National Assembly also called for a United States of Europe on 1 March 1871. "Under a capitalist regime, the United States of Europe are either impossible or reactionary." V. I. Lenin Before

11132-429: The juridical relation of their property to the means of production (e.g. owning a factory or farmland). Marx argues that history is made by man and not destiny. The instruments of production and the working class that use the tools in order to produce are referred to as the moving forces of society. Over time, this developed into the levels of social class where the owners of resources joined to squeeze productivity out of

11253-399: The knights, and the first class held 88 out of 193 centuriae , the two lowest propertied classes held only 30 centuriae , but the proletarii held only 1. Musicians, by way of comparison, had more voting power despite far fewer citizens, with 2 centuriae . "[F]or the voting to reach the proletarii a very profound split in the elite and the higher classes was required." In

11374-443: The largest committee, the French one, possessed fewer than six-hundred members, two-thirds of them parliamentarians. Two centre-left French prime ministers went further. In 1929 Aristide Briand gave a speech in the presence of the League of Nations Assembly in which he proposed the idea of a federation of European nations based on solidarity and in the pursuit of economic prosperity and political and social co-operation. In 1930, at

11495-451: The legislative bodies. The euro is often referred to as the "single European currency", which has been officially adopted by twenty EU countries while two other member countries of the European Union have linked their currencies to the euro in ERM II . Then non-EU member states of Andorra , Monaco , San Marino , and Vatican City concluded monetary agreements with the EU on the usage of

11616-710: The name " United States of Europe ". Renzi described the initiative as an effort to "bring to Brussels several MEPs who are not sovereignists or populists—people who believe in the United States of Europe. People who do politics." Alongside Italia Viva and More Europe, the list includes the Italian Socialist Party , the Italian Radicals , the European Liberal Democrats and L'Italia c'è . In December 2017, Martin Schulz , who

11737-400: The nation-states was essential for the first theories. Federalism and functionalism proposed the containment of the nation-state, while transactionalism sought to theorise the conditions for the stabilisation of the nation-state system. Early federalism was more like a political movement calling for European federation by various political actors, for example, Altiero Spinelli calling for

11858-703: The negative referendums about the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, the former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt released in November 2005 his book, written in Dutch , Verenigde Staten van Europa ("United States of Europe") in which he claims – based on the results of a Eurobarometer questionnaire – that the average European citizen wants more Europe. He thinks a federal Europe should be created between those states that wish to have

11979-399: The other hand contrary notions and arguments exist across a wide spectrum among analysts, experts and pundits. Some people think that the European Union is unlikely to evolve into a unified federal superstate, due to political opposition of some members. Norwegian foreign policy scholar and commentator Asle Toje has argued that the power and reach of the European Union more closely resembles

12100-650: The parliaments and governments of the Nordic countries created in February 1953. It includes the states of Denmark , Finland , Iceland , Norway and Sweden , and their autonomous territories ( Greenland , Faroe Islands and Åland ). The Nordic Passport Union , created in 1954 but implemented on 1 May 1958, establishes free movement across borders without passports for the countries' citizens. It comprises Denmark, Sweden and Norway as foundational states; further, it includes Finland and Iceland since 24 September 1965, and

12221-479: The possibility of regional armed conflict. Other initiatives have removed barriers to free trade in European regions, and increased the free movement of people, labour, goods, and capital across national borders. Since the end of the Second World War, the following organisations have been established in the Nordic region : The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers is a co-operation forum for

12342-459: The possible future political structure of Europe as a whole and/or the EU. Some of them, such as "United Europe", are used often and in such varied contexts, but they have no definite constitutional status. In the United States of America, the concept enters serious discussions of whether a unified Europe is feasible and what impact increased European unity would have on the United States of America's relative political and economic power. Glyn Morgan,

12463-421: The post " President of the European Union " does not exist, nor are there any plans that it should do so.) The member states of the European Union have many common policies within the EU and on behalf of the EU that are sometimes suggestive of a single state. It has a common policy-setting body, the European Council (of national Heads of Government) that defines the overall political direction and priorities of

12584-462: The proletariat common economic and political interests that transcend national boundaries, impelling them to unite and to take over power from the capitalist class , and eventually to create a socialist society free from class distinctions. The proletarii constituted a social class of Roman citizens who owned little or no property. The name presumably originated with the census, which Roman authorities conducted every five years to produce

12705-414: The proletariat and bourgeoisie into irreconcilable conflict, as market competition pushes wages inexorably to the minimum necessary for the workers to survive and continue working. The second part, called capitalized surplus value, is used to renew or increase the means of production ( capital ), either in quantity or quality. The second and third parts are known as surplus value , the difference between

12826-485: The proletariat would inevitably displace the capitalist system with the dictatorship of the proletariat , abolishing the social relationships underpinning the class system and then developing into a communist society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all". During the Chinese Communist Revolution , the concept of the proletariat emphasized having

12947-502: The purpose of common prosperity". The Spanish philosopher and politician, Ortega y Gasset , expressed a position shared by many within Republican Spain : "European unity is no fantasy, but reality itself; and the fantasy is precisely the opposite: the belief that France, Germany, Italy or Spain are substantive & independent realities." Eleftherios Venizelos , Prime Minister of Greece , outlined his government's support in

13068-610: The revolution could address the relative weakness of industrial working classes in China. Exactly what constituted a proper proletarian class consciousness was subject to intellectual and political debate. Marx argued that each social class had its characteristic culture and politics. The socialist states stemming from the Russian Revolution championed and created the official version of proletarian culture . Some have argued that this assessment has become outdated with

13189-583: The seventeenth century; and the plan of William Penn , the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania , for the establishment of a "European Dyet, Parliament or Estates". George Washington also allegedly voiced support for a "United States of Europe", although the authenticity of this statement has been questioned. Felix Markham notes how during a conversation on St. Helena , Napoleon Bonaparte remarked: "Europe thus divided into nationalities freely formed and free internally, peace between States would have become easier:

13310-569: The simple joys and hopes which make life worth living. European integration scholars Thomas Diez and Antje Wiener identify the general tendencies in the development of European integration theory and suggest to divide theories of integration into three broad phases, which are preceded by a normative proto-integration theory period. There's a gradual shift from theories studying European integration as sui generis towards new approaches that incorporate theories of International Relations and Comparative politics. The question of how to avoid wars between

13431-730: The spillover from the European Coal and Steel Community to the European Economic Community established in the 1957 Treaties of Rome. Transfers of loyalties from the national level to the supranational level is expected to occur as integration progresses. The other big influential theory in Integration Studies is Intergovernmentalism , advanced by Stanley Hoffmann after the Empty Chair Crisis by French President Charles De Gaulle in

13552-649: The state-model. Transactionalism, on the other hand, sees increased cross-border exchanges as promoting regional integration so that the risk of war is reduced. European integration theory initially focused on explaining integration process of supranational institution-building. One of the most influential theories of European integration is neofunctionalism , influenced by functionalist ideas, developed by Ernst B. Haas (1958) and further investigated by Leon Lindberg (1963). This theory focuses on spillovers of integration, where well-integrated and interdependent areas led to more integration. Neofunctionalism well captures

13673-494: The term proletariat in his socio-political theory ( Marxism ) to describe a progressive working class untainted by private property and capable of revolutionary action to topple capitalism and abolish social classes , leading society to ever higher levels of prosperity and justice. Marx defined the proletariat as the social class having no significant ownership of the means of production (factories, machines, land, mines, buildings, vehicles) and whose only means of subsistence

13794-430: The three nations agreed to its structure and rules on 13 June 1994. The Baltic Free Trade Area (BAFTA) was a trade agreement between Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. It was signed on 13 September 1993 and came into force on 1 April 1994. The agreement was later extended to apply also to agricultural products, effective from 1 January 1997. BAFTA ceased to exist when its members joined the EU on 1 May 2004. The Council of

13915-503: The title "Modern Slavery". Swiss liberal economist and historian Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi was the first to apply the proletariat term to the working class created under capitalism, and whose writings were frequently cited by Karl Marx . Marx most likely encountered the term while studying the works of Sismondi. Marx, who studied Roman law at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin , used

14036-485: The unity of Europe. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in 2014 that under his leadership Italy would use its six-month-long presidency of the European Union to push for the establishment of a United States of Europe. In 2024, Matteo Renzi, serving as the leader of Italia Viva , and Emma Bonino , head of the More Europe party, formed an electoral list for the 2024 European Parliament election under

14157-407: The wealth the proletariat produce and the wealth they consume. Marxists argue that new wealth is created through labor applied to natural resources . The commodities that proletarians produce and capitalists sell are valued not for their usefulness, but for the amount of labour embodied in them: for example, air is essential but requires no labor to produce, and is therefore free; while a diamond

14278-424: The world, and certain European countries' relatively highly developed social organisation and quality of life (when measured in terms such as hours worked per week and income distribution). Some experts claim that Europe has developed a sphere of influence called the " Eurosphere ". Assumptions about a potential full or near superpower status of a perceived Supra-national Euro state are hypothetical in nature and on

14399-615: Was a German magazine inspired by Mosley's ideas, founded in 1951 by former SS commander Arthur Ehrhardt and Herbert Boehme with the support of Carl-Ehrenfried Carlberg . Mosley would establish the National Party of Europe and his journal called The European. By the 1950s and 1960s, Europe saw the emergence of two different projects, the European Free Trade Association and the much more political European Economic Community . Individuals such as

14520-489: Was a Polish-oriented version of Mitteleuropa . The Great Depression , the rise of fascism and communism and subsequently World War II prevented the inter-war movements from gaining further support: between 1933 and 1936 most of Europe's remaining democracies became dictatorships, and Ortega's Spain and Venizelos's Greece had both plunged into civil war. But although the social-democratic, liberal or Christian-democratic supporters of European unity were out of power during

14641-621: Was then the new leader of the German Social Democratic Party , called for a new constitutional treaty for a "United States of Europe". He proposed that this constitution should be written by "a convention that includes civil society and the people" and that any state that declined to accept this proposed constitution should have to leave the bloc. The Guardian 's view was that his proposal was "likely to be met with some resistance from Angela Merkel and other EU leaders". On that day he also stated that he would like to see

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