Hello all, I live in a particularly Eurosceptic town in the UK, that is rife with ‘small town’ mentality. Most people around here haven’t really left their own county and view anything from mainland Europe as automatically worse than anything British, simply because it isn’t British. Recently some of my friends have been getting into politics and learning about the real effects of Brexit, and they genuinely couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea that the EU had a single market and was beneficial to all members to varying degrees, including the UK. They weren’t automatically dismissive of this when I brought it up, like most people in my town would be, so how would I even bring up the idea of a United Europe and how it would benefit people? I’m not looking to proselytise or convert them, I’m just wanting to casually tell them about it as they’re showing signs of some interest.

I'm genuinely scared, anxious and worried about the future

I'm a big proponent of a federal europe, of democracy and a free and liberal europe.

Trumps win and the rise of the far right in most EU states is pushing these ideals further and further away. I'm starting to lose hope in our shared future. Orban in Hungary, Fico in Slovakia, Wilders in the Netherlands, Le Pen in France, Meloni in Italy, Ventura in Portugal and so many others.. These people are backed by foreign actors, namely Russia and China, who want to see our Democracy crumble so they can pick us apart one by one and pick up the pieces for themselves! Our Union is in grave peril, and I feel like most people in general don't seem to give a damn about this, all they care about is their precious "sovereignty", national pride and their wallets!

What good did the concept of sovereignty do for Ukraine?

Why are people so absorbed with ImIgRaNtS TaKiNg OuR nAtIoNs that they willfully look the other way when foreign interference in our politics is actively eroding our institutions and Democracy?

Why are our politicians, both at the national and european level (especially in the Western states) so weak willed that they have no appetite or ambition to face Russia and China head on?? I feel like we keep getting signals and warnings that dark years are ahead and no one is doing anything to prepare? It's been more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine and our militaries are still in shambles and it feels like we are now more divided than ever! Why is Germany, France and so many others still so reluctant to pool our debt, foreign policy and most importantly, our militaries together and act as one in the face of War and authoritarianism?

Why is everyone so selfish?

We just lost the US to fascism, the number one country, the leader of the free world, of democracy and freedom, just fell and no one in Europe seems to care, in fact, they are choosing bow down, increase our purchace of gas so Trump doesn't slap tariffs on us and wait out his term, praying that they pick a Democrat in Four years! I mean, what the fuck!

This, as so many other situations in the past few years, should have been met with decisiveness and defiance! We are freackin' Europe for god's sake! We are powerful! We just need ambition and grit not greediness.. And certainly not cowardice!

Tbh, I'm dumbfounded with our leaderships reaction (or rather, lack of) to the events of the past few years. Our enemies are literally laughing in our faces, and getting ready for what's coming. And I'm willing to bet that will be WW3...

I'm sorry for the rant and gloominess, but I really need to get this stuff off of my chest, and most of my friends and the people I talk to about this just shrug it off as nothing much, and I'm honestly feeling alone and powerless...

I follow U.S. politics extremely closely. I write about it too. And in my opinion European strategic autonomy is a no-brainer.

For those of you who don't follow U.S. politics very closely, I just want to briefly describe how messed up things are over there.

Both parties take enormous amounts of money from corporations and billionaires. This is because the campaign finance laws are extremely lax and on top of that there is enormous wealth inequality. This means both parties are predisposed towards the rich and corporations and worsening wealth inequality.

The U.S.'s social safety net is basically non-existent compared to European countries. This is in part for the reason above. This also means it worsen wealth inequality and it makes people more sensitive to things like an increase in the cost of living, which are the perfect circumstances for emerging fascism.

On top of that, their top court (the supreme court) is hopelessly partisan. It is appointed by presidents during their term and due to some high-level political manoeuvering by former senate majority leader Mitch McConnell it is now heavily dominated by pretty far-right judges. These judges basically made sure that presidents are above the law in all but name to protect Trump this year in a ruling. Again, it heavily incentivises authoritarianism and corruption in the presidency. And it makes reforms to the social wellfare system nearly impossible.

The U.S. education system is, frankly, bad and is probably going to continue to get worse. The U.S. public is quite uninformed and this is also having a huge negative effect, such as causing people to vote for a guy based on inflation when that guy has no plans to fix it.

Its first-past-the-post electoral system has given insane levels of power to two parties, both of them corrupt and corporate aligned, to determine who becomes their candidate. Severely limiting the potential policies that can end up being pushed in the white house. And at the same time encouraging extremism due to limiting options so severely. This time there was basically just a moderate liberal option and a far-right option, so people on the right chose the far-right one.

And then there's the electoral college which basically means that even if you win a majority of the vote, you don't necessarily win the presidency.

There is rampant gerrymandering all across the country, again due to the FPTP system, and rampant voter suppression through things like purging lists of voters. There is no automatic registration for voters.

The media environment is saturated completely with large, for profit corporations. This means they generally have a pro-corporate and disconnected point-of-view and, on top of that, they tend to collude heavily with whatever party they're aligned with. Again, limiting the information of the public and their choice.

At the same time they refuse to properly regulate misinformation on their social media companies, thus causing rampant misinformation to get to voters.

The system could in theory be reformed, but it is an open question whether this will ever happen with how completely sick it has become. Does the system still even have the capacity for reform?

The U.S. is a completely failing political system. It is currently holding up basically only because it is so old. The institutions are so old and go back so far that this has created a strong institutional memory of democracy in some of them, like the military, which holds it back from complete collapse. But Trump's project 2025 (created by the heritage foundation) is actually looking to get rid of this too, and replace everyone in the civil service (for example) with Trump loyalists.

Europe CANNOT be bound to this sinking ship. We NEED strategic autonomy, or they will drag us down with them.

The Idea is simple.
If you have 20.000 random people who are on average slightly above average spread among 400+ million others then their voices really don't matter.

But now imagine that you divide them proportionally among 27 countries and you have a few hundred in Germany for example.

Imagine that out of those few hundred, ten are the CEO's and CFO's of major banks, 30 more occupy high roles in the military, 20 are close friends to influencers (they are very important for forming social opinion), 6 are nationally renowned journalists, 6 are close friends of TV, Radio moguls, 20 are entrepreneurs, 30 are deeply implanted in parties from across the spectrum (the idea being of turning the federation into something that isn't left or right, it just is, where most of the spectrum agrees), etc..

And now imagine that they form an organisation where they share connections and resources which they target strategically so that they can influence public opinion and slowly change the politicians of the country from against to pro.

I hope you understood my example.

Work, work, work and become important. Money is not the prize. We can only achieve this if you take part. Taking action is not signing up to some newsletter, taking action is upgrading/increasing your influence to the point where your actions are as powerful as the combined action of tens of thousands. (for ex. a bank CEO).

Long live the federation.

https://preview.redd.it/rtgxbg2klvzd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=cef6dad0b046f6d3e81a80a63471e8d3a6d3e56c

A little insight into the dynamics

Trump will fill his cabinet with Neocons, much thanks to Israels Netanyahu. Let's speak truth, Netanyahu sabotaged Harris campaign in order to install a more reactive US government. [This is not a conspiracy theory but a simply quid pro quo and a result of lobbying. Bibis private meeting at Mar a Largo was the key to it] Many in Israel have fully realized that Ukraine and Israel are fully connected. The problems are the powers Russia, Iran and China stirring and a US in decline. As it looks like, Mike Pompeo and Mike Rogers will be installed in the next Trump administration. Both are pro-Ukraine hawks as well as Israel hawks. The more power they have, the better the outcome for Ukraine and Israel. Additionally, the oil companies will also crush Russias revenues and give us an opportunity to find an alternate supplier.

JD VANCE on the other hand and his cronies will be our full blown enemies. They are fully bought by Russia. We can see them already teaming up with Russian propagandists and bot farms to get the Neocons out of office, which they will not succeed. Musk and Vance had great influence on the campaign, but they have no power over Trump. They see China as their enemy and do not fear Russia, that is why they want to get closer to Russia in order to hit back at China. Musk sees his investments in China in danger, the only alternative supplier is Russia. He also wanted to build a Giga factory in Russia. They will also simply not care about the Middle East.

I hope this somewhat explains it. Trump has very strong connections to a group we can work with, work really well with. Once JD Vance takes over, the US will become hostile. MAGA is already infighting, thankfully for us, the Neocons are winning. Should Trump die during his term, JD Vance will purge the government and take over. I would also really love to get into Trumps head, to see what he thinks about the ghosts he conjured in order to win.

Are all of these countries and territories possible to be part of the Federation in our lifetime?

Albania

Andorra

Armenia

Austria

Australia

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czechia

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

J

Konigsberg*

Kosovo

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro

Netherlanders

North Macedonia

Norway

O

Poland

Portugal

Q

Romania

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland, England, Northern Ireland)

Vatican City

W

X

Y

Z

Edit: N.I.

I think this place might be a bit of a bubble. There is no broad support for federalizing right now no matter how much better it would actually be for the EU.

The type of politician that appeals right now is Orban, Lepen, the afd. Liberal parties are dead, the left is disorganized and disadvantaged by media and rich donors, green parties don't matter because the average European has decided that climate change doesn't matter so who is left to take over ?

At "best" it's conservatives who will at "best" keep tge EU exactly as it is, if not starting to close borders and at worse it's the far right who are actively against cooperation and call for the EUs destruction.

Maybe one day we get to become one country but apart from no big, relevant parties/leaders actually working toward, or even advocating for that, the average EU citizen just doesn't want it.

https://www.change.org/european_federation

To the governments of the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Italian Republic:

We urge you to begin negotiations toward establishing a European Federation. The federation main competences should be foreign policy, defense, intelligence, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and space.

The federation should be open to any country that is a member of the European Union, the eurozone, and NATO. As a successor state to its members, the federation will be a member of these organizations. It should have a single delegation at United Nations, and a permanent seat on the Security Council, taking over France’s position.

The federation should be democratic, and with a federal parliament and a federal government.  Members of the federation who are elected to the European Parliament could possibly also serve in the federal parliament, to avoid two separate elections at European level. Details of governance would be specified in a federal constitution, which would grant the federation sovereign fiscal powers to levy taxes and issue public debt.

Following the election of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. president, it is critical that Europe assumes full responsibility for its defense and achieves true autonomy. The only effective way is through a real federation, with a federal government that can give a clear, single strategy to its unified forces, and that can build the required military capabilities and a single military industrial complex that can enable Europe to defend itself effectively and to project power in order to safeguard its interests.

If you agree with this petition, please sign it, thanks

Those things would do a lot as a starter. And are also the most pressing issues at the moment. With unified army it'd mean unified procurement too which'd ease costs due to economy of scale.

Or ever for that matter?

This ain't much, but, a prominent Latvian politician just highlighted how EU's future is likely to be closer, more integrated, perhaps, even a federation. So weird to see a fellow Federalist in the wild.

Although her policies have always been somewhat progressive, I never considered her a Federalist!

Does this subreddit have a chat that matches it?

Are there many Ukrainians here? I am looking for like-minded people from Ukraine. Нам треба триматись разом)

Now, i shall start this post by referring to an other. This is a follow up post to my last entry, “europe needed to militarise” ,as seen below this small paragraph. Which to my surprise has resonated with a lot of you, and in only 1 day after posting has become the top 50th must upvoted post on this subreddit, and (to my knowledge) the most upvoted purely text post on this subreddit. Though of course feel free to point out if that statement is false.

Said post linked here: https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeanFederalists/s/Pn2rc99pVf

So, why do i feel a need to follow up on my last statements? Firstly: my lack of engagement with the discussion i started. I would like to apologise. Of course i am no authority on the subjects i started the discussion on, outside of my own personal interest in military procurement, equipment, and policies and strategies under which it is deployed. But it is also unfair of me to drop effectively a bomb shell, and not partake in the discussion itself. Secondly: i would like address a seemingly underlying theme of despair. Though i will argue not argue with precedent set by the EU as whole, with it’s unwillingness to answer wake up calls, after wake up calls. Despite that, i believe it’s narrative that is ultimately unproductive.

Now, with my house warming over, and any credibility of me not being payed by the word in shambles. Let me get into my opinion flavoured meat and potatoes. And address some points i disagree with

1. “Europe has ignored the wake up calls before, how will this be any different?”: Yes, this opinion is with a far too large historical precedent, BUT it is nether the less an unproductive narrative, especially if you agree with the fact Europe needs to arm itself. It’s nothing more than an excuse to throw your hands in the air, in a defeatist mentality. Europe needs to arm itself and you need to make sure any one even mildly willing to listen that you will not be satisfied until the deed is done.

2. “Europe will takes decades to remilitarise”. I hardly see this as anything other than a motivation to start NOW, and to do everything in our power to start NOW. Because, if, god forbid, somehow Europe finds itself at war in 5 years, we’ll be already half way done, instead having to scrounge up scraps as we start from effectively nothing at worst possible time to be starting. So my answer is clear, start making as much noise as possible, because every single day, is a delay we are FAAAAR past being able to afford.

   3. “Rearmament is unpopular, and will be harder to implement the further west you go.”

To, that is have nothing i can counter this statement with. It is simply a fact of life in European politics. All i can do is implore my Western European brothers to not be discouraged by the uphill battle that will face you in particular. Make your voice heard, and make people understand that to protect your homes you MUST be willing to protect ours in the east, and make sure that you are more than willing to practice what you now preach.

Which leads me to my thesis…

No matter where you are, in the EU, Male or female, rural or city folk, left or right. You must show that you are willing to do what you believe MUST be done. Do not sit on the side lines, there is truly no other time like the present to SIGN UP. If you are a 20 to 30 something healthy mentally sound man that is preaching for rearmament but are unwilling to serve your country, or in our case the continent. You are by definition a hypocrite, one that will simply be written off as someone who put your safety above an others. So please, i implore everyone to do their part, if at all possible. If you’re an accountant, the army needs those, if you’re a logistician the army needs those. If you’re an engineer, the army is literally willing to murder for people like you. Even if only for one term of the contract.

And to those that might want to cast doubt on me, i promise that i will practice what i preach. Next July i will join the Latvian army for an 11 month service period, as an anti aircraft system operator. A journey i am willing to document and forward to this subreddit if there is a true want to gain this insight. If there is please let me know.

But that concludes what i have to say, i wish you all the best possible November the 7th, i hope filled you all with at least a modicum of hope.

With kind regards and respect to all of you. -a fellow man countenentman from latvia.

This is certainly a turning point for America. I would like to add a few points, why it has come this way. You can single out and discuss any points you want :)

Rural - Urban Divide

When analyzing the electorate map we can clearly see that the centres of high productivity and huge populations, as well as the educated parts are all clearly highly pro-democrat. The rest is staunchly pro-Trump. These people are feeling left behind. They are become less rich, stagnate or are in relative/absolute decline. I am quite sure, if you create an overlay with welfare programs, these will be the most effected area. So why are they voting for Trump, which will cause them pain? I believe that they all know this. I think they just cannot stand others to do that much better than them. Something imaginary propelled by fake life on Social Media. They just hope that Trump makes everyone's else lives worse off, so to even the playing field. They hope that this new playing field will give them the same opportunities as the others. Humans can withstand incredible amount of suffering, but not having less opportunities, even if they are overall better off.

The world is not rational

I think, this is something we inherited from economics. The rational investor transferred or evolved into the rational human being. This should be clearly abandoned by now. If things do not go peoples ways they can become super irrational. When emotions start to dominate we see increased polarization, violence, conspiracy theories, alternative theories that challenge almost everything of the status quo. This is very important for the information space of a democracy. We can also observe that the information space cannot be reliably controlled. The emergence of polarization can only be addressed at the individual level. People need to have some successes in life, then they abandon their irrationality quite quickly.

Inflation matters

Despite, or as the cause of, the high growth rates in the United States, purchasing power is at a record low. The high levels of inequality might have caused that arguably one of the best economies in history were confined towards only parts of the population. This loss of purchasing power, loss of affordability, loss of lifestyle and loss of opportunity did not fully encapsulate parts of the poor and working class, perhaps even middle class. There were even some articles that the economic mirage of the US is an illusion by the Financial Times. Or that renowned economists say that laser faire capitalism might push towards authoritarianism and fascism.

I think these are the most interesting and not-so obvious points of the US election. One could also argue that defunding the education system has played a role, the increasing public and private debts, the foreign interference, greed of (wannabe) oligarchs, but I think this is commonly discussed already.

Dear Europe,

As a father of two young children, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by a voice of despair within me—a voice that questions the future we’re creating for them. This feeling of emptiness, sadness, and worry grows stronger with each passing event: the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the election of Trump, the rise of extreme ideologies on both the left and the right. These are troubling times.

And yet, the most urgent threat we face is climate change. It’s a crisis that affects us all, a crisis that is already unfolding in ways we can’t ignore. But somehow, we humans remain so short-sighted. We focus on me, me, me. Why should I care about climate change if I won’t feel its full impact myself? We’re like the lobster that finds the water warm and comfortable, unaware of the danger until it’s too late.

In the face of these challenges, I believe Europe has a unique role to play. With the aggression from Putin’s Russia and the growing isolationism from Trump’s America, Europe must stand united. Now more than ever, we need to come together and ask ourselves: What can we do for Europe?

For me, this means embodying empathy and openness in my everyday life. It means meeting others with kindness, accepting different perspectives, and listening to the concerns of those around me. We need to bridge divides, not deepen them. We need to encourage empathy, love, and respect—not just for each other but for our planet.

These are the values I want to pass on to my children, values that can bring hope instead of despair. Division and conflict only create the kind of negative energy the world doesn’t need. Let’s protect each other and this earth we all share. There’s enough for everyone.

Tl;dr:

• Liberal democracy is in crisis, with the ideological initiative having been seized by authoritarians and reactionaries, whether it is far right nationalists or radical Islamists. There is a need for a new, forward-looking ideology to inspire the masses without resorting to hatred and anti-intellectualism.
• The collective West is dead, and Europe can no longer rely on the United States for protection against threats from outside powers, notably Russia and China. Europe must choose between unification and decline. And all the while, the clock is ticking on the global climate.
• Ergo: We need a new Europe-wide movement, intent on reforming the institutions of the EU towards becoming a federal state, promoting European unification as a positive good, and presenting an optimistic vision for a future society that protects individuals and their rights, and allows them to flourish while instilling pride in the collective.

Things have gone wrong. We grew up in the post- Cold War years believing that history was basically over. We might elect a new government every few years, and watch with mild interest as overseas nations elected theirs, but all in all, things stayed basically the same. All the great ideological movements of the 19^(th) and 20^(th) Centuries were finished, and a dull but serviceable liberal democracy had won out. Wars and revolutions were something that happened on television or in online news articles. Now, history is once again knocking at our door, and we must choose how we will answer its call.

Though our political elites have been sleeping, this moment has been a long time coming. Rising social inequality in recent decades has meant that children no longer expect to live a better life than their parents. Costs of living have soared for all but the richest one percent. Our masters have either denied the problem, or sought out quick-fixes and easy scapegoats that do not require any radical rethinking of society.

It goes beyond mere buying power: While we are being priced out and crowded out of our living spaces, our participatory culture is also dying. Our cities are no longer where we live and interact and create, but merely places where money is spent or hoarded. We exist as consumers and value-generators, not as human beings.

All this has led to a sense of restlessness and lack of purpose, and the pent-up anger has long been bubbling over, and the ideological vacuum has been seized on by authoritarians. Many people have been attracted to far-right ideologies, looking to victimise minorities, immigrants and other easy targets. Many of the latter have in turn looked to ancestral religion as an outlet, as evidenced by the rise of radical Islamism.

The political left, meanwhile, has rendered itself irrelevant, preferring to waste its time with factional disputes on minor points of ideology rather than to seek real power. Its best work has lain in single-issue advocacy on topics such as the environment or women’s rights, and these have indeed created positive changes, but it has not presented a coherent view of the future.

And all this time, hostile outside forces are threatening us, and what was once the economic and military overlord of the world sits fractured and between newer global powers. Our short-sighted exploitation of China as a source of cheap labour producing our goods has led to a rising economic and military powerhouse headed by a totalitarian regime on which we are economically dependent. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine raises the spectre of other European countries facing invasion and annexation by a nuclear power, the postwar norms of non-aggression between sovereign states (if they ever truly existed) now lying in tatters for all to see.

And finally, though many of us criticised America’s military adventures in Vietnam and the Middle East, we slept easy knowing that it guaranteed our security as the de facto head of NATO. With the second election of Trump, these times are over. Whatever happens in the next years, America can now be seen as a fair-weather friend at best. We must face the fact that we can only rely on ourselves for our own protection. Europe must unite and steel itself, or perish.

What we also can’t neglect, though so many in power choose to: Every year that goes by, we carry on emitting greenhouse gases that will render more and more of the planet uninhabitable, massively exacerbating all our existing economic and social crises. If we wish to build a better world for ourselves and our children, it will do no good if there is no world left to live in a century from now.

We cannot just go on as before. Any further work within our current political paradigm is just moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. We need change, and what’s more we need vision. We need an unapologetic vision for a new federal European state, and for a society in which we will not just survive but thrive. To create a place where we and our families can be safe and our rights are respected, a place for us to prosper economically, intellectually and culturally, and for us to experience pride in forming a part of something greater than ourselves. To give us hope in leaving a better society for our children, and serving as a positive example for the rest of the planet.

There will be more time to develop and present this target vision (I certainly have a lot more to say on this front), and indeed there will no doubt be a lot of much-needed debate, but first will need a mass movement of people committed to the basic premises presented above. We need a community of ideas building upon it. And we need young leadership. Our work will be long and hard, but it starts today.

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