The New Federalist is happy to announce a new collaboration with JEF’s Political Commissions (PC). As a key component of JEF, the three Political Commissions are in charge of drafting new political resolutions (which are valid for a period of 2.5 years), or reviewing and updating expired ones, thus shaping JEF’s political priorities or outlining JEF’s position on specific issues. Once drafted, the resolutions are then democratically adopted by JEF members during Congresses and Federal Committees. As the first of a series of articles, today’s article will zoom into PC3, introducing what it does and its responsibilities.
PC3 - External Affairs and Global Governance.
PC3 is responsible for External Affairs and Global Governance. During its debates, PC3 addresses several issues which are relevant to the functioning of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy. Other topics include the enlargement process, the European Neighbourhood Policy, and global governance. Most importantly, PC3 looks at these issues through a well-defined Federalist lens, thus seeking the Federalist spirit which is underpinned by the belief that to tackle the world’s shared challenges and ensure peace, we need a joint effort towards common institutions. By calling on representatives throughout the JEF network to participate in the debates, PC3 aims to empower the diversity of ideas and perspectives as an added value which can be conducive to finding creative solutions to increasingly complicated global challenges. This ambition is further put into action by inviting also external experts from a diverse pool of backgrounds who can contribute to the discussions thanks to their different areas of expertise.
What is PC3 doing at the moment?
In view of the Spring Federal Committee Meeting which was held in April in Tartu, Estonia, PC3 worked on two main resolutions: the resolution which calls for Building a World Federation and Democratic International Institutions, which was first adopted by the European Congress in Liège on 21 November 2021, and is currently being reviewed and updated; and an urgent resolution on the war in Gaza. Due the gravity of the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Gaza, PC3 is worked hard so that a final draft would be ready by April, for JEF to be able to not only calling for peace, but also so that it can actively contribute to peacebuilding through the addition of federalist ideas to current debates on the conflict’s resolution.
A new federalist approach.
During this mandate, PC3 has decided to strive for two objectives that have been long needed: decolonizing European federalism and avoiding Eurocentrism in federalist resolutions. In practice, both resolutions present several opportunities to achieve this. In the Building a World Federation and Democratic International Institutions resolution, great attention is being paid to removing any reference to the EU as a better form of regional integration than the others, and instead the wording being chosen aims at highlighting the unicity and positive aspects of all forms of regional integration, and will call for more integration between regional bodies on the path towards the creation of a democratic, World Federation. The resolution on Gaza, for its unicity and urgency, also presents several key opportunities. Firstly, it is a great opportunity to discuss what role can be played by European federalists in the peacebuilding of non-European conflicts; secondly, by inviting experts from academia and civil society, and federalists from Palestine and Israel to speak during the discussions, it is a great opportunity to expand the diversity of voices which are allowed to express themselves through JEF’s Political Resolutions. In so doing, PC3 also tackles Eurocentrism in Federalist resolutions and it will continue to be working towards de-colonizing European federalism.
The role of The New Federalist.
Through its added value as JEF Europe’s online magazine, The New Federalist is found in a unique position where it can complement and enhance the work being done by the Political Commissions. Like in the case of this article, TNF can play a positive role by informing its readership about the work being done in the Political Commissions. In this regard, it is important to point out that any JEFfer can participate during the discussions of the Political Commissions (for further information on how to get involved, please visit the following link).
When it comes to PC3 specifically, we have produced several articles that you can read up on to inform yourself of the meetings and their outcomes. You can go check out an article which complements the work being done on the World Federation resolution by explaining what Federalism is and what it aims for.
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