Young European Federalists

First founded in the late 1940s, the current European-level structure of the JEF was founded in the 1970s.

It was around the 1950s that the first groups of young federalists appeared as a youth section of the Union of European Federalists. The Young European Federalists organised themselves into JEF sections by establishing a new European structure with a European office in Paris in 1949. Despite the split within the federalist movement in the 1950s, the various JEF groups carried on with their work on local, regional and national levels even if there was no longer an international JEF organisation.

In 1967, young people held mock negotiations in Brussels to work out a treaty of accession for the UK to the European Community. In March 1969 they organized a demonstration on the spectators benches of the European Parliament to demand its direct elections by universal suffrage. In many European countries protest demonstrations were organised against the dictatorship in Greece. Those activities helped the first groups of young federalists to set up very close collaboration and to tighten their links again. The collaboration took concrete form in the creation of JEF's liaison office in 1970. It was there that the international association took the name of ‘Young European Federalists', and the founding congress was held in Luxembourg on 25 and 26 March 1972.

The JEF was still interested in the European Community, but new topics became increasingly important for JEF in the 1970s: the direct election of the European Parliament, east-west reunification and enlargement, disarmament, women, the environment and international development issues. In 1985, when Jacques Delors became President of the European Commission and launched the idea of the single market, institutional questions became important in the discussion in JEF since it seemed that a real European democracy could be established in a short time. JEF said of itself, "Young Europeans, simply a generation ahead," which is still the JEF motto. In the 1990s, three basic developments influenced the work and the discussions of JEF:

1. the return of nationalist wars in Europe;
2. the crisis of legitimacy of the European integration process, highlighted by the Danish referendum in 1992, the lost Norwegian referendum in 1994 and the negative attitude of most EU citizens towards the euro;
3. the open questions on the enlargement of the European Union.

Since the 2000s, JEF Europe has worked a lot on institutional issues calling for a European federal constitution and a more democratic Europe. Another major area of interest for JEF is the defence of human rights and the respect of the state of law, especially with a yearly Belarus action since 2006.

According to its statutes, JEF is a non-partisan and non-denominational European NGO. It advocates for a united Europe with a federal structure. At the centre of JEF's political program is the demand for a federal constitution for Europe, whose core element is a two-chamber Parliament (consisting of a directly elected chamber and a chamber of states). Hereby, JEF insists on the subsidiarity principle as a form of decentralized distribution of powers. Another key element is the demand for a unified foreign and security policy of the European Union. JEF is committed to comprehensive reform of the EU towards more democracy, participation, transparency, efficiency and sustainability. In addition to the policy objectives, the organisation tries in particular to promote European awareness among young people and encourage civic activism.

JEF spreads its ideas by the following means:

Campaigns to lobby over a longer period of time for a specific federalist cause.

Street actions mobilising the entire network to raise awareness of burning European issues among the general public. (Most notably the annual Free Belarus street action, taking place in numerous cities Europe- and worldwide since 2006)

International events such as seminars and trainings on a wide range of topics in different EU and non-EU countries.

A multilingual, interactive webzine thenewfederalist where youth can voice their opinion in articles on current European affairs.

Projects that implement a specific goal and for which specific funding was received.

Press releases for the advocacy of JEF's objectives towards both public and private organisations.

Consequently, the organisation encourages debate on European affairs and EU policies while fostering youth mobility and exchanges throughout the continent, thus seeking to involve European Citizens, in particular young people, from all across the continent in the process of European integration.

JEF has about 15,000 members in 31 widely autonomous national sections, which are coordinated by a European umbrella organisation, JEF Europe.[1]

JEF Europe is an International association without lucrative purpose (IVZW/AISBL) under Belgian law. The European Secretariat is based in Brussels.

Several current and former influential members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including Richard Corbett and Jo Leinen (PES), Tom Spencer (Conservative) and Monica Frassoni (Greens), and its former Secretary General Sir Julian Priestley served as JEF officers in their teens and twenties. The former Swedish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was a vice president.

• European Movement
• Union of European Federalists
• Federalism
• Federalist flag
• Centre for Studies on Federalism
• Young European Movement UK

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Young European Federalists.

• Young European Federalists
• A short history of the Young European Federalists (1997) by Tobias Flessenkemper, The New Federalist
• Friends of JEF alumni network of the Young European Federalists (JEF Europe)
• The archives of the 'European Federalists' are deposited at the Historical Archives of the EU in Florence