After the second Constitutional Assembly (chaired by the wise Mercedes Bresso) gathered and its federalist reform proposals were ratified in 2026, we felt that JEF’s goals had been fulfilled. On a side note I must mention that I have never since come across another organisation that knows to party like JEF used to party. My children have definitely missed something here.

Civil society’s wake-up call and the Constitutional referendum in 2009

There are plenty of events worth remembering in the history of European integration. Still, I didn’t realise that my time in European federalist youth organisations during the very beginning of this century was so crucial. Europe was at a real turning point. It was clear then that the old intergovernmental basis of Europe was no longer working, while at the same time no leader was prepared to leave the unanimity-logic. A first breakthrough came about in 2002-2003 when the European Convention met to prepare the Draft Constitutional Treaty that was a little later defeated in the then French and Dutch referendums. However, the first Convention was really the awakening of European civil society. So many people involved in European NGOs told me years after how crucial this event had been for their organisations’ development.

Initiated by JEF and UEF and later joined by hundreds other NGOs, the campaign for a European referendum marked the second turning point. What started as an attempt to counter the negative swing after the failed referendums, turned out to be the great push for European governments to finally “let the people decide” (as the campaign was called then). Within 8 months the campaign gathered more than one million signatures from all over Europe demanding a consultative referendum on the European Constitution. Several famous people from outside politics joined the campaign and thereby gave it another momentum, one of truly civic involvement. In the end the governments took our demand on board. We moved towards a European consultative referendum along the European Parliament elections of 2009. Britain and Sweden refrained from participating in the consultation and the French voted once more against after a bitter campaign. However, all three countries decided by parliamentary vote (the French with some more complications and re-foundation as the sixth republic) to join the new European Union. The subsequent constitutional revisions followed suit predictably, without posing a threat to the European project.

Political and economic union as mutually reinforcing factors

The sustained economic growth of the EU countries after 2007, the shift towards the “creative innovation society” (CIS) of 2010 and the positive outcome of the Constitutional project of 2009 which was built on the massive citizens involvement gave Europe back the pride it deserved. Some might remember how it took us until 2014 when the last EU countries (among them the Danes after yearlong judicial fights over the right print of vain King Frederik on the Euro coins) joined the Eurozone. As soon as all had joined, Commission president Peter Altmaier could finally launch the new integrated economic management system (IEMS) which had not only offered a wider political (macro) management to the Eurozone but has also been the world’s first and only successful mechanism to prevent excessive state debt through the “exclusive control mechanisms” (ECM). Too bad that Norway, our last new EU member, only joined in 2033. Had our friends managed to succeed earlier, Norwegians would probably have kept most of their oil and gas fortunes thanks to the IEMS. But they always knew better somehow… It is still a mystery to me why my old friend and later the Norwegian Prime Minister Siri Holland had bought Greenland from the Danes.

Another 100 years more Europe?

Europe’s integration process since 1957 has been a unique story of success and a role model for the rest of the world. Writing this sounds like the most obvious thing today. But a look back to Europe’s first birthday party in 2007 shows that we have leaped forward a great deal since. While I would categorise the first 50 years as try and fail – two steps forward, one step back - the last 50 years have indeed been a story of unprecedented success. And ironically it all started off with the very 50th anniversary party which was at the time criticised by me and a lot of other concerned Europeans as meagre window-dressing.

Jan Seifert (77) is a retired university professor in European gender studies and demography. He was president of the Young European Federalists (JEF) from 2005-2007. Jan is married to singer and philanthropist Norah Jones and has 3 children and 11 grandchildren, all living with him in a GMO-free commune in his home- town in Pinneberg, Germany.

This article was initially published in the “Flourishing Europe” version of the Daily European. See the entire newspaper in pdf format here.