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A1: Regarding the European Federal Parliament

The following table describes the status, the proposer and other metadata of this motion.
Metadata of the motion
Consultation:Federal Committee Athens - Fall 2026
Agenda item:1. Political Commission 1
Proposer:Political Commission 1: Institutional Affairs and Governance
Status:Submitted
Submitted:10/31/2026, 11:58

Motion text

Regarding the European Federal Parliament

Resolution submitted by Political Commission 1: Institutional Affairs and
Governance. Adopted by the Federal Committee in Cologne on 6 November 2016. Re-
adopted by the Federal Committee in Budapest on 10 November 2024. Re-adopted by
the Federal Committee in Athens on 1 November 2026.

JEF Europe,

  • Emphasising that repeated requests from both the European Parliament and
    citizens to reform the Parliament's powers have been consistently ignored
    by the member states’ governments;
  • Highlighting that a federal system must balance the representation of
    European citizens and member states;
  • Stressing that there is currently an imbalance between the Council of the
    European Union and the European Parliament, as the former is the only
    legislator on politically sensitive policy areas where the special
    legislative procedure applies, as well as the only decision-maker in areas
    such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy;
  • Further stressing that the Council of the EU frequently plays an
    obstructionist role, as it often looks for a consensus that satisfies all
    member states, even when this is not legally required, creating a hidden
    veto, and highlighting that this behaviour is connected to the Council’s
    politically subordinate standing to the European Council;
  • Acknowledging that a genuinely democratic European federation requires a
    European Government that derives its legitimacy from directly elected
    representatives of European citizens, and that the Spitzenkandidaten
    system strengthens such transnational democracy;
  • Underlining that the European Parliament lacks the right of legislative
    initiative, which unreasonably prevents the EU's only directly elected
    body from independently proposing legislation;
  • Highlighting the lack of transparency in decision-making processes and
    operation of the European Council and the Council of the European Union,
    since their meetings are not open to the public;

JEF Europe therefore,

Calls upon the member states to initiate a treaty reform that establishes the
following structure and mandate for a Federal Parliament of Europe:

  1. A federal bicameral system shall be established, in which the current
    European Parliament is transformed into the Chamber of European Citizens,
    and the current Council of the European Union is transformed into the
    Federal Senate;
  1. The Chamber of European Citizens shall provide direct democratic
    representation for the Union’s citizens, while the Federal Senate
    represents the interests of the individual member states to safeguard the
    balance within the federal framework;
  1. Both chambers of the Federal Parliament of Europe, as well as the European
    Government, shall have legislative initiative [1];
  1. The Federal Parliament shall have ultimate authority on legislation within
    European competences;
  1. Both chambers of the Federal Parliament of Europe shall make their
    decisions using simple or absolute majority vote in all matters, except on
    matters of constitutional reform, which shall follow a separate procedure;
  1. The Chamber of European Citizens’ representatives shall be elected through
    a mixed proportional list system of one EU-wide list (the so-called
    ‘transnational lists’) that is drawn up by the European political parties
    and one list for each national or regional constituency drawn up by the
    parties active there. Citizens shall have two votes, one for the EU-wide
    list and one for the constituency list;
  1. The European Senate shall have an equal number of representatives
    (Senators) from each member state. Senators shall be elected in accordance
    with a procedure determined by each member state;
  1. If the two chambers of the Federal Parliament do not agree on a final
    version of the legislation, the leaders of both chambers will convene a
    common meeting (Conciliatory Committee) that shall include representatives
    of each parliamentary group from both chambers, as well as ministers in
    charge of related portfolios. This meeting may propose a common text that
    must be passed in that form by both chambers to be approved;
  1. To safeguard the autonomy of national parliaments, the subsidiarity review
    mechanism [2] shall remain in place;
  1. The roles of the opposition shall be guaranteed in both chambers of the
    Federal Parliament, notably regarding the oversight of the majority, the
    meaningful participation in debates and the contribution to the
    legislative process.

[1] The proposed right of legislative initiative for the European Parliament is
explicitly mentioned in the European Parliament resolution approved on 22
November 2023 (2022/2051(INL))

[2] Article 5 TEU and Protocol No 2 grant national parliaments the right to
submit a reasoned opinion within eight weeks of an EU proposal's transmission.
This early-warning mechanism flags proposals that violate the treaty-defined
division of competences, preventing subsequent litigation before the Court of
Justice of the European Union.

Reason

This resolution renews JEF Europe’s position on transforming the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union into a democratic bicameral Federal Parliament. It calls for legislative initiative for both chambers, majority-based decision-making, transnational electoral lists and a transparent balance between citizens and Member States.

Go to line:

Amendments

  • A1-011 (Moritz Hergl (JEF Europe), Withdrawn)
  • A1-036 (Reinis Giļs, Submitted)
  • A1-054 (JEF Malta (decided on: 10/31/2026), Submitted)
  • A1-058 (Mirko Ondras (JEF Switzerland), Submitted)
  • A1-064 (Moritz Hergl (JEF Europe), Submitted)
  • A1-064-2 (Mirko Ondras (JEF Switzerland), Submitted)