Federal Committee
Below you can find the current published candidacies for a Federal Committee position in JEF Europe.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Below you can find the current published candidacies for a Federal Committee position in JEF Europe.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Contact Details Email: pauline.laloux@jefbelgium.eu Mobile: +32477738007
As many other JEFers, I first joined JEF to learn more about the EU and add some extra-curriculum activities to my student life. I did not know much (if anything) about federalism, but JEF seemed to be a welcoming, inclusive, and active Youth organization. Almost six years later, I am now applying to a position at the European level of that organization I got to know around a beer in Liège, and hope to be elected in that same city, in November.
Beyond the strong feeling this brings to my heart, it also allows me to reflect on how much JEF brought to me throughout the years. I often laugh about the fact I spend more time working for JEF than for my actual job (I hope my colleagues will never get the chance to read this page), but it is for numerous good reasons: I got to meet there amazing people, some of them being now my friends. I got to learn way more at JEF events than on universityβs benches. I got to develop my skills in many different areas and at a greater scale than many regular jobs could actually offer. And most importantly, I got the chance to work for something I truly believe in.
Now, I also want to bring more to JEF. Not simply for the fact I come from a small local section, now involved in a national section, and hope to get to the European level. I truly believe in the importance of the work that is done at the local and national level, and that is why I wish to support as much as I can other sections around Europe. I wish to support them in an area that we find especially important in my current section: civic education.
Europe@School is the first JEF Europeβs program I heard about when I joined JEF. For a small local section as JEF LiΓ¨ge, such activities matter a lot, as they are easy to implement, enable the section to easily reach potential new members, and do not require large financial and human resources. As a small national section with limited capacities, JEF Belgium always saw the potential of civic educationβs activities and, for that reason, is one of the most involved sections in that area.
However, I came to realize that many other small sections are not currently reaching to the available tools JEF Europe has at disposal. Of course, the COVID crisis has a major role to play in this situation. Now that a better future is in sight, I wish to bring my practical experience to others and support the promotion of incredible tools already available and constantly renewed by the sections around JEF. Because I believe in the importance of civic education, for the JEF sections and for the young people that will benefit from it.
Europe@School is a JEF Europeβs program that has been hit hard recently, while in my opinion Civic Education remains one of the most important Task Forces. Because, along another highly important TFs such as Capacity Building, it is one of the tools that will now allow sections in difficulties to be back on tracks, by easily reaching young people. It will for sure have a significant role to play in JEF Europeβs shortcoming future as well as on the long term,, and I hope to also have the opportunity to contribute to it.
Contact Details Email: ksysta@abo.fi Mobile: +358 44 300 57 60 Instagram: @katisyst Twitter: @katisyst Facebook/LinkedIn: Kati SystΓ€
I am Kati, a 26-year-old Finn from Turku on the Southwestern coast of Finland. I am currently finishing my masterβs studies in public international law and human rights. I have been a member of JEF Finland since 2017 and sat on the national board in 2020 where I coordinated the updating of our equality plan. In 2021, I got to help co-coordinate updating of the Code of Conduct and the internal resolution on empowerment and diversity together with the Task Force Empowerment and Diversity. I have also participated in the work of Political Commissions 2 and 3, internet governance workstream and the migration working group. Outside of JEF, I have worked with regional EU advocacy in Brussels and EU affairs at the Finnish Ministry of Justice.
I am running for the FC because I want to make JEF Europe more accessible for JEFers and future JEFers with different backgrounds. This means e.g. inclusion of young people from different backgrounds in our political work, choosing accessible locations for our events and using a language that is easy to understand. A broad representation is a way to make federalism mainstream. I wish to chair the Task Force Empowerment and Diversity. In this role I hope to develop tools for ensuring representation and diversity in JEF activities, support the use of the new Code of Conduct, continue to offer training for national sections and to develop campaigns, such as Be a Federalist Ally.
Once again, the EU is being developed through a crisis. I believe this is due to lack of vision and a fear to take the steps towards federalism. This is where JEF can play a big role as we have the ideas and people to push for a more integrated Europe. The popularity of JEF ideas on climate, democracy, human and fundamental rights, economy and other important issues on the Conference on the Future of Europe online platform shows that our ideas enjoy a wide support. JEFβs strength is the ability to push young people to influence the EU and bring them to the decision-making tables. Yet, this also remains one of our bigger challenges as many young people do not participate in EU decision-making.
In my experience the current Political Commissions and Task Forces have meaningful and clear mandates. Of course, when a project ends, its Task Force should be replaced by the Task Force of a new project. How the Political Commissions and Task Forces work is very much dependent on who gets involved. I would like to increase cooperation between Political Commissions and Task Forces when there is a common interest. I would also like to utilise Task Force Empowerment and Diversity to create tools to make participation in Political Commissions easier for more young people with different educational backgrounds, language skills and life situations. I would like to see discussions on how this can be achieved. I would also like to contribute to facilitating such discussions, as I believe FC membersβ role should be an active one in developing our ways of working.
Contact Details Email: laura.gaissmaier@jef.de
My name is Laura and I am 23 years old. Iβm currently pursuing a masterβs degree in Socio-Ecological Economics and Policy in Vienna and work for a feminist peace organization. I first got in touch with JEF in 2017 at the European Youth Convention. When I started studying a few months later in Erfurt, I immediately joined JEF. In 2018 I became vice president of the regional section JEF Thuringia where I was responsible for political communication. Later on, I got involved in JEF Germanyβs working group on Empowerment & Diversity and our campaign on the German Council Presidency. Since October 2020 I have been the International Officer of JEF Germany. In this capacity I represented JEF Germany in the statutory meetings of JEF Europe, was involved in drafting the new Code of Conduct and the internal resolution in TF Empowerment & Diversity, founded JEF Germanyβs working group on international affairs and organized the International Berlin Seminar this year. Besides that, I participated in various activities organized by JEF Europe and other national sections ever since I became a JEFer.
JEF has become my activist and political home in the past few years. JEF has been the place where Iβve learnt how to write press releases, how to advocate for our ideas, how #SleepLessEuropeMore can really be a thing and how important a strong civil society is. At a time when Eurosceptics and populists are getting louder and louder, when the principles of the rule of law are being called into question, I cannot keep my feet still, I must get active and stand up for a federal Europe. Having been involved on local, regional, national and European level within JEF, I developed a vast understanding of JEF Europeβs work and functioning, current challenges and the interactions between the federal levels. Hence, I would like to bring in my experience as part of the FC Presidium, if elected. In this capacity I want to strengthen the exchange between EB and FC, but also between directly elected FC members and national sections, as well as mediating between actors if necessary.
With the ongoing Conference on the Future of Europe and European elections coming up in 2024, a loud and young voice on federalism is needed more than ever. As JEF we should continue to communicate our objectives to relevant stakeholders so that weβre known as THE political youth organization working on a federal Europe both within and outside the βBrussels bubbleβ. This is only possible with members that like to engage and advocate for our goals. Weβve seen our membership shrinking during the pandemic, but we must not let this become a long-term trend. We must come up with new strategies to recruit Gen Z and young people outside the typical JEF environment to achieve a diverse membership. At the same time, we have to equip our existing members with the skills and tools needed for example through capacity-building trainings. JEF generates its strength from its convinced and motivated members. We might not put together a European federation within the next two years (but who knows, after all) but we can definitely build upon the solid foundation past JEF generations created to strive for that goal.
In my opinion, the content division between the three PCs works very well and, above all, is efficient why we should keep the structure as it is right now. Regarding the Task Forces, I think we should focus on strengthening the participation within the Task Forces rather than setting up new ones. Task Forces Capacity Building, Empowerment & Diversity and Civic Education are well established Task Forces that should continue working like this. I would like to put special emphasis on Task Forces Resilient JEF and Green JEF. Weβve experienced a difficult time regarding membership during the pandemic and Task Force Resilient JEF can be crucial in working on strategies to strengthen membership. At the same time, I think we should widen the scope of that TF: it should not only work on the question how to gain new members from diverse backgrounds but also on how to support our existing activists and their personal resilience. TF Green JEF has made its first start with the survey in December 2020 but now is the time to analyze the results and to implement measures to make JEF more environmentally friendly.
Contact Details Email: Peter.kolby94@gmail.com Mobile: +45 60 19 57 99
I have been a member of JEF Denmark (European Youth Denmark) since 2017. Since then I have coordinated 2 study trips to Brussels, 1 to Ukraine and in November we will go to Poland. Furthermore I have been the local secretary international in Aarhus for a year. Beside JEF I have also conducted election observation missions as an International election observer for Silba - initiative for dialogue and democracy. The countries are Moldova, Serbia, Georgia and Hungary. My educational background is within culture and languages. I am very passionate about Eastern Europe and the Eastern Partnership.
I believe my experience and knowledge about the Eastern European countries - both member states and those in the Eastern Partnership in an EU context - will contribute to our commitment towards these countries that believe they have a Pro-European future. We need to be very clear on our values and try to engage more with local pro-europeans in those countries and somehow motivate them to fight for their European future - especially with regards to resolutions.
I believe JEF must be more aware of its potential on a regional and international scale. I have unfortunately often seen in the resolutions that JEF appears more βgrassrootβ rather than an actual political player that also acknowledges the results achieved by the European Union. Beside this I hope we will see more active national branches in the Eastern Europe - we need them when we discuss Eastern European related resolutions.
I believe we need a diverse committee with different knowledge and nationalities. My contribution will be to put a greater focus on the Eastern Europe as well as the EU / Russia relations. At the Pre-FC in Barcelona I also noticed that we need to be much more clear about what message we want to send with our resolutions..
Contact Details:
Email: afmainzer@gmail.com
Skype: xesc.mainzer92
Twitter: @xesquet
My name is Xesc, and I was born in 1992 in the island of Mallorca. I am a Historian and Iβm currently a teaching assistant while working on my PhD thesis. Being involved in JEF since 2012, in 2014 I helped establish a regional section in the Balearic Islands. Since then, I have been active on both regional and national levels, having been president of JEF Balearic Islands (2014-2018/2021) and JEF Spain (2019-2020) as well as a board member of JEF Madrid (2017-2019). For the past 8 months I have also been a member of JEF Belgium as I spent part of the year in Brussels for a PhD research stay. Currently I devote most of my efforts in helping set up a cross-border section between JEF Balearic Islands, JEF Catalonia and JEF Toulouse.
If elected, I would like to get involved in PC2 and TF Diversity and Empowerment, with the aim of becoming a co- chair of the Task Force. TF D&E needs to remain committed to its role as a guarantor of further advancement of our organisation towards being an LGBTQI(+)-friendly, feminist and diverse space for everyone to feel welcome regardless of their background. However, the TF has room to accommodate other areas for improvement towards further inclusivity.From my standpoint, turning JEF into a linguistically diverse and inclusive organisation is a must given how Europe features an incredibly diverse linguistic landscape in which further work towards language inclusion is a necessity. My action plan regarding the Task Force is focused, besides keeping the currently active lines of work, on including the issue of language diversity into its scope, to make JEF Europe and itβs work more accessible to those who donβt have a command of the English language. There are plenty of members of our network who partake in activities at different levels but are afraid to participate at the European one due to lacking certain language skills, what can also lead to situations like our members not being able to understand our policy documents and campaigns. Thus, Iβd like for TF D&E to set itself a goal of supporting the EB and Secretariat in the implementation of effective multilingualism, drawing from the experience of TNF, on three areas: internal and policy documents, website, and outreach campaigns. In addition, I would like the TF to spend the next mandate working on training trainers on diversity issues so they can deliver specific workshops for activists and sections on the issue. As a side project, but also in an effort to provide an additional βmore-social/less-politicalβ dimension to the JEF experience our members have, I aim for an active cooperation with TF Capacity Building to establish a βlanguage buddyβ programme where JEFers from all over the network with an interest in learning another language can get in touch with other members who can help them improve their knowledge of other languages.
Considering that we are in the midst of COFOE and a few months after our 2023 congress another European Parliament election will take place, I think that our priority for the upcoming mandate is working towards establishing and consolidating a broad alliance of civil society organisations to support federalist-leaning policies ahead of the 2024 election. To do that end, we should take advantage of the opportunity COFOE brings us to continue highlighting our specific policy proposals (continuing the great job done through NEXT CHAPTER EUROPE) while also using our membership in the European Youth Forum to rally other youth NGOs to support and push for those proposals.
I think that besides currently existing TFβs we should establish either a short-to-medium-term Task Force EP2024 or a permanent, long-term Task Force Campaigns and Actions that focuses on the coordination and planning of our campaigns with a mandate to explicitly work on our campaigning for the next EP election. In addition, and on a more internal note, I think that JEF should actively work on promoting the creation of cross-border sections among local and regional sections located on different sides of European statesβ borders, following on the example set by JEF Oberrhein/Rhin SupΓ©rieur.
Contact Details
Email: riccardo.moschetti@jef.eu
Twitter: @Riccardo_msc93
My name is Riccardo, I'm 28 and I come from Vicenza, Italy, a city in between the Dolomites and Veniceβs canals, where prosecco is made. I arrived in Brussels in September 2019 to continue my studies and now I'm a young professional working in Policy and Advocacy. My background is on EU Affairs and Global Governance, but I focused mostly on institution-building, democracy and party politics. I'm a member of JEF Italy since 2016 and I've been extremely lucky to learn the federalist perspective in the historic section of UEF Turin. There, I have been Secretary General for 3 years, managing to revamp the local JEF section. In 2018, I've been elected as an FC member and co-chair of PC3. With a huge team effort we adopted nine resolutions over the last two years and organized webinars and participated in other PCs and Task Forces work.
Although we have done a lot, there is still a long way to go. And that is why I have decided to run for re-election as chair of the Political Commission 3, External Affairs and Global Governance (PC3). Writing resolutions on EU foreign policy can be challenging: on the one hand, the EU's effort and its commitment to the affirmation of multi-level governance, the defense of human rights and the establishment of multilateralism should be fully recognized; on the other hand, the concrete limits of the EU and its governance towards foreign policy are self-evident and we should demand and effective change that must necessarily include foreign policy to be an exclusive EU policy. PC3 helps JEF to increase its position as an organization that sees the European federation not only as a goal, but as a concrete political objective that will benefit both Europe itself and the whole world. I would like to continue to build a network of people interested in what JEF can do with regard to foreign policy and to help us develop critical thinking that avoids the risk of limiting ourselves in our own "Europe-centric" vision.
JEF is a family and if we want to be seen as such by everyone we have to commit ourselves to the values we stand for, and first of all make sure that they are respected in our organisation. Working as a team means helping each other, improving together and supporting us even when some things do not go as we would like. JEF has an important but at the same time wonderful future ahead of it. We have to involve and train young people, be inclusive and give space to everyone. Furthermore, we have to put ourselves at the centre of European civil society and attract many other different organisations, work together and capitalise on the strength of the so-called federalist galaxy.
We need to try to get more involved in the work of the PC/TF and achieve better coordination. For example, implement a shared calendar that everyone can access to know when the next meeting will be, the agenda and who to contact if you want to attend. We also need to improve our communication and not rely only on social media channels. It is also important to stimulate ourselves to ask opinions of the different PCs / TFs about the work we are doing and to be able to listen to everyone's opinion. It could be useful in this case, to think that the Presidium could organise meetings for the members of the FC so that we can update everyone on the status of the work.
Contact Details:
Email: haavardroertveit@gmail.com
Phone number: +4794055676
My name is HΓ₯vard RΓΈrtveit and I have been an active JEFer in Norway for over 5 years. I grew up in the rural parts of Western Norway, in an area where European cooperation and integration is generally frowned upon, despite this I am a passionate European! Since I joined JEF Norway in March 2016 I have served as VP for my local section in my first year, I have served 2 years as a member of the national board and I just finished serving 2 years in the national executive board. I am currently living in Bergen where I am studying for a Bachelorβs in Economics at the University of Bergen. Outside of JEF, I currently serve as an elected representative in the municipal council in my hometown and I have experiences from a broad range of youth- and student organisations.
I am passionate about politics and I am always trying to use that passion to improve our society and work towards a better future for us all! Although my stay in the executive board in JEF Norway is over but I am far from finished advocating for European cooperation and integration (and of course Norwegian entry into the European Union<3). I wish to shift my focus from the Norwegian relation to the EU to a broader European focus. I believe that the federal committee is the perfect arena to focus my energy and help developing ideas for a better Europe. If elected I wish to be involved with PC1 β Institutions and governance where I can provide a perspective on the EU-EFTA institutional relations or PC2 β Internal European affairs where I can provide with developing general policies for JEF. I would also be interested in working on the FC presidium.
My vision for JEF is that we continue being a political force that impacts what is on the European agenda and continue working for a better Europe.
I believe that JEF have a good structure when it comes to the organisational structure when it comes to the Political Commissions and Task Forces. I think that it is organised in a manner that is clear. However one thing that I somewhat believe we could do to improve the political commissions is perhaps a more sectoral approach to internal EU-politics. For example like clear policies for education, for industrial policies, for climate policy and so on.
To summarize I wish to use my experiences from JEF Norway and other work I have done on a European level. I hope to gain your support at the JEF Congress for my candidature for the Federal Committee!
Contact Details:
Hi everyone! I am Annemarie, 26 years old and JEF member since 2016. I was born in Ukraine, grew up in Germany, studied European Affairs in Bordeaux and Stuttgart. Currently I am living in Belgium and working at the European Parliament. Since 2019, I am happy to be part of the JEF Europeβs FC, being co-chair of Task Force Civic Education working on βEurope@Schoolβ activities. Last year (2020), I also joined PC2 as a co-chair, where we worked on resolutions on industrial, environmental and youth employment. Taking into consideration, that in the last two years, we have faced challenging times with the COVIDβ19 pandemic, many project ideas and activities were put on hold. Now that we seem to βget back to a new normalβ, it is great to see this Congress being finally physical again. Therefore, I am more than motivated to continue the work β digitally and physically!
In particular, I would like to engage in the Task Force βCivic Educationβ, since there is a huge potential and need for European Civic Education. To increase the feeling of being βEuropeanβ amongst citizens and the youth, education is an important field of action: informing people about Europe, the EU and our European values and achievements. Therefore, I would like to contribute to strengthen JEFs pillar of educational activities: engage and coordinate, provide new tools, propose activities, trainings and a platform for exchange for national and local JEF sections for experiences, best practices, materials and more. Having a common coordination and exchanging know-how and best practices across the different JEF sections and countries, we learn from each other and promote the European citizenship!
What we have experienced with COVID19, was a huge challenge for our societies and also for civil society organizations such as JEF. But on the other side, I see hope: For the first time in EUβs history, the EU member states accepted to have common debts (among other crucial steps) β a historical moment, which shows: When there is a political will and need, there is a way! Letβs keep this in mind and get ready for the future! And there are still a lot things to be done. In my point of view, there are three key actions, we should focus on in the next two years:
- Political vision : Strong demands and engagement with stakeholders to bring forward our demands, and to use the political momentum of the βCoFuEUβ.
- Educational action: Awareness-raising within the society trough civic education, develop the awareness of being part of a European community (united in diversity!).
- Cooperation: Coordination and cooperation within JEF and with other organizations to join forces.
It is time to shape the European Union and JEF can contribute to βmaking Europe workβ!
Personally, I believe that all three of our existing PCs (1,2,3) are important and relevant for our work as a youth organization. They build a space for deeper discussion on relevant topics and trough the work on resolutions to create a basis of advocacy work for JEF Europe, representing the voice of European youth on EU level.
Of course, the TF Civic Education β one of the core activities in many JEF countries a huge potential to engage with youth, let them discover the EU, its benefits, but also enable critical thinking. It also has the potential to βattractβ new JEF members through our activities. Nevertheless, for this TF, physical presence and encounters are crucial, so letβs hope that it will be possible.
Other relevant Task Forces to me: Empowerment and Diversity (Gender mainstreaming, inclusion of disadvantaged groups within our activities, policies and membership) and TF Green Transition - for example with a toolkit on sustainable JEF, raise awareness and exchange best practices to save the Future of young generations, our Future.
Contact Details:
Dear fellow JEFers,
My name is Guillaume Kayser and I have the honour of submitting my application for the position of Directly Elected FC. A dual citizen of Luxembourg and France, I see myself as a European citizen first and foremost. Growing up in Luxembourg, I went to the same lyceum as Robert Schuman and learned French, Luxembourgish, German, Latin and English there. After lyceum, I joined EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, to study civil engineering. The engineering curriculum sharpened my mind and gave me useful tools to think about todayβs challenges such as climate change and the energy transition, but also the circular economy and digitalisation.
I have joined JEF Switzerland in 2017 after the French presidential election, when President Macron defeated a nationalist populist by a narrower margin than ever before. I realised that as a pro-European, you cannot stand idly by while forces in the world want to destroy everything that the European integration has accomplished. In addition to that, I noticed that in too many countries people are not really aware of what federalism is and what the EU does and JEF seemed like a good place to learn more about the EU and share it with other young people.
Since joining JEF Switzerland, I have become a board member and co-organised some of our associationβs most important activities: our annual study trip to Brussels and Strasbourg, the Challenge Europe (2018 and 2019), the Switzerland-Europe Seminar 2020 and the Oberrheintag 2021.
As I see it, JEF has sort of a dual mission: pushing for a federalist European integration and representing the pro-European youth of this continent. European youth must be an engine for change, because we cannot just trust that politicians will be smart or brave enough to create a world in which we want to live and so JEF should also make concrete and constructive contributions to European and national level political debate. Bearing in mind that our movement encompasses many political families that share the common trait of being pro-European, our proposals ought to achieve a certain level of consensus across the political spectrum. This important work is currently done for instance in the political commissions of JEF or by being in contact with politicians and representatives of civil society (and not just at JEF Europe level, also at member section level).
Based on my experience writing resolutions and my interests, I would very much like to contribute to JEF Europe by joining Political Commission 1 on Institutions and Governance or Political Commission 2 on Internal Affairs. Potential issues I imagine myself tackling there could be finding ways to improve federalism in Europe (I have experience of Swiss federalism to guide me here) and finding ways to enhance our Single Market so Europe remains competitive in the world while keeping high social and environmental standards.
In terms of my proposed working methodology for the PCs, I would like 1) JEF members to be integrated more in advance for helping draft the resolutions and 2) relevant civil society actors and politicians to be consulted in the process, which will benefit our members in terms of learning and our movement in terms of visibility.
Thanks for your consideration and I am looking forward to meeting you all in Liège!
Contact Details:
Email: kalojanhoffmeister@jef.eu
Phone: +33 618364223
Dear JEFers,
My name is Kalojan and I hereby wish to run again for the statutory position of a directly elected FC member for the two years to come. I have been actively involved in JEF since 2017. On a local, regional and European level. Iβve been board member of JEF Berlin and since 2019 PC 1 chair at JEF Europe.
In my non-JEF life I study law. I just passed the first bar-exam (erstes juristisches Staatsexamen) recently in the state of Berlin and am currently in Paris at Paris 2-PanthΓ©on Assas for a Masters. During my time in Berlin, I have gained experience as a research assistant at the chair of Prof. Dr. Matthias Ruffert for European Law and the Walter Hallstein Institute for European Constitutional Law. I published on topics such as transnational lists (ZEuS 1/2020), European Security and Defence Union (WHI policy paper), and European Foreign Policy (WHI policy-paper).
I love learning new languages and have found a passion for salsa and west-coast swing lessons.
My JEF experience is manyfold. However, I would like to point out two highlights that motivated me to carry on the federalist mission even when the pandemic struck and that now makes me want to continue my work at the FC.
With my Co-PC chair β Giorgia - we have been working hard to pass meaningful and elaborated resolutions that act as a basis for our common European advocacy. It is therefore with great joy that I observed how the EB advocated for PC1 topics at the European Parliament and with other stakeholders. I was especially happy to find out that some of our ideas have found their way into the legislative process, be it with regard to the European election process or the Conference on the future of Europe.
Furthermore, in April of this year the state constitution of the state of Berlin was changed. The new Berlin constitution now has at its helm β in Art. 1 of the constitution β a reference to the European project that was lacking before. This constitutional change happened upon our initiative. We as JEFers made this happen. We as JEFers changed the constitution! For a law student like me, who has a particular interest in constitutional law, this obviously is quite something. That is why I was even more honored to be the representative of JEF during the plenary sessions of the state parliament of Berlin pushing for such a change.
These two examples show me that our advocacy has a real effect if applied correctly and if founded on a solid policy base. Hence, I would like to continue contributing to this solid policy base and shaping our policy work through our PCs. I believe I bring the necessary qualifications and the necessary overview in what is happening in Europe and around the world to strengthen our organization in that respect.
JEF is and should continue to be a youth organization with a clear vision. I would like to see JEF as the biggest and most prominent Youth organization when it comes to European politics. We should not just be known in the Brussels bubble but should try to reach out to other parts of the continent as well. That includes policy makers, think tanks and civil society just as much. Hence, my vision of JEF can be summarized as follows: I envisage JEF Europe as THE GO TO organization when talking, debating and shaping Europe.
The work so far has been pretty good in my opinion. However, there is some space for improvement, nevertheless.
1. PCs should coordinate better amongst themselves: we need a common calendar, an exchange of ideas and exchange on practical / organizational issues.
2. TFs and PCs should β where possible and judged necessary β work closer together as well. If a PC for example decides to write a resolution that has a direct link to one of the TFs as well, one could envisage common events, panel discussions etcβ¦
3. Most importantly: the vertical communication needs to be improved. As someone who comes from a very federal structure of JEF (JEF Germany), I know the difficulties of reaching out to JEFers who are active on regional or local level. This is certainly true for other sections as well. We should tackle that problem and find better communication channels.
Dear JEFers, dear friends, it would be a pleasure to chair one of the PCs again (tendency towards PC1 and PC2). I would be thankful for your support and for the trust you would put in me.
FEDERAZIONE EUROPEA SU-BI-TO!
Contact Details:
Phone: 0033613233533
Dear JEFers! My name is Marie, and I am an active member of JEF-France, for more than 6 years now (out of 25!), and a former student in European Affairs specialized in Energy and Environment Policies at SciencesPo. After spending the last 3 years in Paris, I am currently working as an intern at the European Commission in Brussels. I would be very honored to join the Federal Committee, especially as a chair of the Green Transition Task Force!
After making my first steps as a JEFer in Nancy as Secretary General of the local section which I help founded, the federalist road led me to Berlin (long live the SIMEP!), then Paris (in the SciencesPo Section) and more recently, Brussels. Always happy to be on many fronts, I especially contributed both to awareness actions in high schools and to resolutions and debates in national and local political committee, convinced that empowering citizens through civic education and carrying the voice of the European youth in all its diversity were at the core of our association. For the past 2 years, I had the chance to be the regional coordinator of the JEF-France sections in Ile-de-France, taking part in multiple events and campaigns (The European Youth Convention in 2017, European elections campaign of 2019, and now CoFue), while ensuring trainings, fostering partnerships with other associations and creating projects with all our volunteers in order to bring Europe closest to its citizens, especially the most remote ones, despite the world-wide pandemic!
Beside my engagement to JEF, I am also strongly committed to another challenge: the ecological transition. Beyond my studies, I participated in multiples NGO, developing and implementing concrete actions and solutions at city level to reduce our collective footprint. I realized how essential the participation of youth in climate advocacy is, to make policies, but also companies and citizens evolve at a pace coherent with the emergency we are now facing.
Thatβs why I am strongly convinced that the JEF of tomorrow must not only be exemplary in its practices and actions, but should also contribute directly through its advocacy, to make the EU a leader of the fight against climate chance, ensuring thus that voice of youth is heard.
I would therefore propose to:
1) Reduce JEFβs carbon emission
Create a βtoolboxβ to organize events and seminars with lower impact for national sections;
Encourage our members to take part in specific actions reducing their climate impact, when possible with other associations;
Develop a cycle of trainings on the EU Action in regard to climate change, in partnership with other associations;
2) Stand for a stronger advocacy regarding the ecological transition
Build upon the success of the Green-Y seminar;
Make our voice heard in the youth coalition where JEF is already active: Generation Climate Europe;
Implement an βAdvocacy Toolboxβ for national sections on this topic.
When I first heard about JEF, I could not really believe that such a broad network of committed young people, dedicated to democracy, citizenship, civic education and federalism, spreading even beyond EU borders, could exist! Even if we have been hit hard by the pandemic, here are two paths we could follow to strengthen our position.
Letβs empower more young people as European citizens! I believe JEF-Europeβs actions could be even more impactful if we strengthen our leadership regarding European civic education, by developing new educational tools and partnerships enabling us to be more inclusive and to reach other public than our usual target (and here Europe@School plays a critical role).
Letβs strengthen our advocacy! As importantly, our association is a militant one : The CoFUE as well as the French Presidency of the EU can really be a stepping-stone to make our ideas heard loud and clear and shape a more inclusive, green and federalist EU. Why not dedicate a specific Task force?
Contact Details:
Email: emma.farrugia@jef.eu
My name is Emma and I am currently Vice-President of the JEF Europe Executive Board. Having grown up in Gozo Maltaβs (arguably more beautiful) sister island - I am now living and working in Brussels. My involvement in JEF started 10 years ago in 2011, but my first contact with JEF Europe was in 2014 when I was elected International Officer of JEF Malta. A year later, I also served as President of JEF Malta.
As Euroscepticism was rising in the run-up to the 2019 European elections, I decided to take-up new responsibilities within the organisation and ran for the position of Executive Board Member of JEF Europe. I grew a lot in this position - from a personal, political, organisational, intellectual and activist perspective (to name but a few). This gave me the motivation to eventually take-up the role I currently hold.
The last four years on the JEF Europe Executive Board were extremely intense and rewarding. Having matured from both a political and organisational perspective, I genuinely believe that JEF Europe has come a long way since 2017. Now that I have done what I felt I wanted and could do in this body, I am ready to focus my energy in other structures within the organisation where I am brimming with new ideas.
Having had roles on both the national and the European level of the organisation, I understand and appreciate the importance of the role of the Federal Committee. The directly elected Federal Committee members are uniquely placed to be bridge-builders within the structure of the organisation as they concretely contribute to the work of JEF at a European level while also staying connected to their national, regional and/or local sections.
There is this joke within JEF that the Presidium is traditionally reserved for JEFers that are a few years away from their JEF retirement (although remember #OnceaJEFerAlwaysaJEFer). While it may seem like I am following the stereotype, in reality I have always found the role of the Presidium to be extremely exciting and important. I remember attending my first Federal Committee in Bologna in 2014, and instantly feeling that incredible #JEFSpirit (before we even had a term for it!). More recently, the pandemic has reaffirmed how important physical meetings are in our movement. Our statutory meetings are crucial for this and my motivation stems from the fact that I believe that the Presidium can help guarantee the perfect balance between the formal and informal elements of our statutory meetings. Looking forward, I am also motivated to be able to use the role of the Presidium to make our statutory meetings more accessible and more empowering to all members within our organisation.
During the pandemic, our intellectual cohesion in JEF has suffered owing to a lack of exchange and meetings. We have made great progress over the past years to nurture the political understanding of our movement. And yet, this is something that needs to be done repeatedly with every generation. We have lost some two years of this - we have skipped an entire generation of JEFers - and moving forward I believe that this is something that JEF should focus on.
My experience in this movement could compliment the new and fresh ideas of the new generation of JEF. I see this also in my role on the Presidium, where my experience in the organisation, including in the drafting of the new statutes, could be useful in statutory meetings to bridge the gap between the different generations of JEFers.
To conclude, as the European level is growing, the directed elected members of the Federal Committee have an increasing responsibility to contribute towards our common political and organisational goals. I am ready for this commitment and ready to implement this vision within the next two years.
Contact Details:
Email: moritz.schleicher@jef.eu
Twitter: @libreetrebelle
Instagram: @eu.libre.et.rebelle
Hey JEFers! MY name is Moritz and you might have met me in the last two years somewhere in Europe. But you also might not because there was some pandemic going on and I missed the chance to get to know you. Thus I will briefly introduce myself here and hope to get to talk to you during the Congress in Liège.
In my not JEF time I am a student of Simulation Technology, which is in my case virtually Physics. While studying the smallest bodies in the world I was also always interested in the big questions of politics, civic engagement was hence part of my life since high school. My first encounter with JEF was then back in spring 2013, when I got the chance to participate in the Stuttgart-Strasbourg cross-border seminar β funnily enough two cities I feel home today β which combined political discussions with best practises as Europe@School and street actions. This was just the starting point of an active journey in different cities and on different levels within JEF with the last two very intense years as a Member of the Executive Board of JEF Europe. In this position I grew a lot personally, but also got a lot more insights in our network with impressive strengths but also opportunities that are still to discover.
You might wonder why I decided to run for the psotion of a directly elected FC member and not for the EB. This is not a question of lack of ideas or principal motivation but rather a question of resources. In my opinion it is important to well evaluate the time you can give within volunteering and the responsibilities that come with a certain task. In this conclusion I am clear that I am not yet ready to leave the JEF cosmos but currently could not commit to go all in for the EB the next two years. However I would like to contribute in the upcoming mandate with my experience to the work in the Federal Committee and develop it further in a way to support the board and our organisation the best as possible.
Internally I see a priority to improve the involvement of local JEF members within our Task Forces and Political Commissions. This is something the directly elected FC members will need to think about together and can in this way already contribute to our team #JEFspirit. In the past years we have professionalised as an organisation, I would like to keep up this level, build up on it and still make it accessible to new volunteers on all different levels. This can be only achieved by constant training and learning. We have a lot of knowledge and experience in our network or with our partners on different levels, to share this and empower every JEFer to implement their ideas and grow is key to be #simplyagenerationahead.
Externally we have managed to be seen as an important player in Brussels, we are in the core of the European Civil Society, our opinion on the Conference on the Future of Europe is asked for. But of course there is also still work to do and particularly on media outreach β also given the fact that the biggest players still are on national level β we can improve. My idea is to exchange ideas and train our people to become strong advocates for a Federal Europe in the discussion with decision makers but also with the public.
Consequently it should come with no surprise that I see the TF Capacity Building as key for the upcoming mandate. Not mentioned yet but for me particularly impressive in the last two years was our twinning programme, where we have seen a lot of new connections built during the pandemic with common online sessions and which hopefully now can be continued also offline. I would therefore like to investigate how we can make a maximum of physical meetings possible, how we can support from the European level with ideas to overcome possible burdens.
Last but not least following-up on our GreenY project, my work in the past mandate within Generation Climate Europe and our resolutions on climate policy, I want us to continue on the pathway of GreenTransition within JEF but also in being an advocate of our generation for a future on this planet. A Task Force could work here hand in hand with our Political Commission 2.
Contact Details:
Email: filippo.pasquali@gmail.com
Phone: +39 345 0657901
Iβm Italian yet living in Belgium for three years, the country where I moved to work. I graduated two months ago in economics at ULB University, Brussels. Iβve been part of Jef since 2017, although I mostly focused on local activism, in my hometown Verona and region. Alongside my friends and Jeffers, we worked hard to enhance activism in Veneto, founding three new sections and boosting initiatives throughout the years. I was also a member of JEF Italy FC.
I am running for a place in the Federal Committee and particularly the PC1. Since the beginning of my political activism, I have always been a federalism aficionado. I have read all the classics from America (Hamilton, Tocqueville, Jackson) to the foundation of our organization (Albertini, Spinelli). I studied the structure of our Union; I am a consultant working for the Commission. Two years ago, I participated (as observer) to a FC and I found it illuminating. I thus believe I could be helpful to the political elaboration works of JEF.
Politically speaking I believe concentrating our efforts on the Conference of the Future of Europe is the way to go. I am unfortunately concerned the Conference will flop, due to its institutional flaws and lack of public attention. It might create another drawback to further federalization processes, while boosting states confidence.
I am yet to have an organizational opinion. Although I follow JEF activity, I currently do not retain sufficient information to know what specifically works and what might be instead improved. I hope to contribute soon enough though.
Contact Details Email: camillabrizzi@gmail.com Mobile: +393295747973
Iβm 28 years old and I come from Florence, in Italy. I am currently at my last year of an international co- supervision PhD in Math at the University of Florence and the University of Paris Dauphine. Besides the love for my studies, since I was a teenager, Iβve always been interested in politics, in understanding the world, and in fighting to change it.
The first time I came in contact with JEF Italy it was in 2010. I was 17 and I participated to a seminar organized by the JEF and UEF sections of Tuscany. It was immediately clear to me that European federalism had the answer to my personal question: βwhat shall I do to make the world a better place to live in?β.
Since then, I have been an active member of JEF Italy, both at a local level, leading for several years the Section of Florence, and at a national level, becoming in 2015 a member of the Italian National Board. Iβm now the President of JEF Tuscany.
After more than ten years of activism in JEF Italy, during my activity as a volunteer I have learnt a lot and I would like to bring my experience to the Federal Committee, if elected.
However, I would also like to enlarge my JEF experience, getting more involved in JEF Europe, because you never stop learning. In the past years, we have seen how the fact that European Union is an incomplete project has hindered its action during times of crisis. With populism rising and the rule of law being disregarded in several Member States, it has become apparent that the funding values of the European project cannot be given for granted.
Thatβs why I strongly believe that the battle for a Federal Europe today cannot ignore these, and several other issues that impact the life of people living in European society. Because of this, I would like to run as co-chair or vice-chair for the PC2, in order to give my contribution on structuring and updating the position of JEF on themes that I am passionate about.
My vision of the future of JEF
The past two years have been full of challenges; the next two hold new opportunities. Initiatives such as Next Generation EU or the Conference of Europe have brought the European project at the center of debate. In this context, JEF Europe has a chance to play a crucial role towards real federalist change. Other than this, JEF Europe should try in the future to become more diverse, by reaching out to a wider audience. and include people from different backgrounds and education levels.
Opinion on the political on the needed political commissions and taskforces/working groups.
I think that Political Commissions should encourage a larger participation from all participants and all JEF sections. Also, the writing process should be a bit more open and transparent, and there should be a better communication about it. Moreover, it is crucial to carefully select the main themes being discussed, also paying attention to what can be useful to JEF in its political work.
Contact Details:
Email: aleksandra.aleksejeva@jef.eu
My name is Aleksandra, and I am a law and diplomacy student at the Riga Graduate School of Law. Also, a former vice president of foreign affairs at NGO βClub the House β youth for a united Europeβ also known as JEF Latvia and directly elected federal committee member during the last mandate. Thus, I took an active role in JEF for last several years.
Being in the federal committee for last two years, I want to continue being active in this field. Moreover, broadening the horizon and gaining new knowledge over these two years, I would like to co-chair the Political Commission 3 β External Affairs and Global Governance. Coming from Latvia, I see that the Eastern region of the European Union is underrepresented in JEF. Thus, while co-chairing PC3, I would cover a vision that previously lacked the strength of representation. Moreover, due to my enthusiasm, which is complemented by the additional studies, about the region of former Yugoslavia, I see how these two aspects could give a new perspective of further work of the Political Commission.
For the next two years, I would like to highlight such areas as human rights, integrity, and climate to be prioritized especially. Experiencing a worldwide crisis in these spheres, emphasizing the importance of improving them is bringing the youth together. Consequently, achieving the further spread of the ideas.
Moreover, we have to acknowledge the importance of being a sustainable organization. Consequently, the further work towards becoming even more environmentally friendly as an organization is required.
Political Commissions and Task Forces are covering a broad range of spheres. Thus, it is possible for everyone to find the most suitable to their interests. I believe, this is a huge advantage of our current division. Nevertheless, in order for Political Commissions and Task Forces to work even better, the improved communication is needed. That would encourage the chairs to achieve even more, since they would have to represent their PC/FC in way more meetings than it was till now.
Contact Details:
Instagram: @vlepinejuarez
Hi everyone! My name is Victor, Iβm 22 years old, and Iβm running for the Executive Board.
Allow me to give you more details about myself: Iβm usually living in Barcelona where I study Law and BBA. Before that, I was living in Nice until I was 18, and I feel deeply attached to French and Spanish cultures. By the way, I have three passports: Spain, France, and Belgium.
I began my JEF journey in 2016 in Nice. One year later, I moved to Barcelona and integrated JEF-Catalonia. 2019 was a key year in my JEFer journey. I became vice president (in January), then president of JEF-Catalonia in September, and I integrated the Spanish Board as treasurer in December. During the JEF-Bus tourβs step in Barcelona, I had my first contact with the European Board.
We organised many activities during these last two years. I want to underline the following ones: the visibility and integration of JEF-Catalonia in the local European network, the organisation of seminars and debates about Europe and Federalism, and the development of contact with various political youth organisations in order to maintain an open dialogue between catalanists and unionists.
In 2021, we focused on the organisation of the pre-Federal Committee in Barcelona in June 2021, and the set-up with JEF-Illes Balears, JEF-Catalonia and JE-Toulouse a euro-section called JEF-Pyrenees Mediterranean.
Apart from my JEFer activities, I am also a lyrical singer (but not professional) and I love to go to the opera and cinema. Another random thing is that I love cooking (I have the dream of a European Top Chef contest).
My involvement at the local and national level allowed me to learn a lot about myself, the meaning of the European Union, Federalism and their potential. The most important thing I learned is that every JEFer has the power to take a concrete action, in order to emphasise the power of JEF. Thatβs why I want to bring our voices to the European bodies, in which we have a crucial role to play.
Thanks to the discussions and debates in which I took part, and the maintaining an open dialogue between antagonist organisations, I was able to strengthen my values for Europe, which I believe I share with you: democracy and the defence of human rights, federalism and subsidiarity, the European construction as the main defender of humanistic values, and as the best guarantee of maintaining peace in Europe, by means of discussion and moderation. These are values I want to defend and promote, reaffirming our vanguard role in the European youth movements.
During the last years, the European continent has been confronted with more and more complex challenges, increased by the pandemic, which underlined the necessity of new answers: integrated European policies (Next Generation Eu), coordinated policies (Green New Deal), and eventually the development of collective controls on new technologies, as regards privacy, harassment and fact checking. Therefore, we need to advocate for a better Europe, in which no citizen feels rejected and where we give concrete answers to the challenges impacting their daily life.
After these last two years of successive lockdowns and curfews, the vaccination campaign allows us to get back on normal activities, but also to breathe, to recommune all together. That is going to be the main topic of the next two years, which are going to be very exciting and challenging: the end of the COFOE, the European Year of Youth, and last, but not least, there will be plenty of national elections which will give us opportunities to prepare for the 2024 European ones.
In 2022, JEF will celebrate its 50 years. This will be the time to reaffirm our history, our values, and remember our achievements as European Federalists, but also to prepare the ground for the next 50 years (at least) of our Common Home.
In 2023, we have to prepare more precisely for the next European elections. Reaching the non-European or neutral- Europeist groups will be a key role in the success of our campaign. We need to continue the development of our association network, at all levels, so we can involve a wide number of actors in our campaigns and broadcast our ideas. In this sense, in addition to the work between the EB and the CF, we need to involve all national and local sections in the campaign preparation.
In a more general way, we need to strengthen the voice of JEF at all levels, not only in the institutions but also with the civil society. Citizens are the basis of all democratic systems, and nowadays, collectives who need Europe the most are not aware of the opportunities offered, even neglected. I want to continue our work of βgoing out of the bubbleβ, and to reach the largest audience of the European Youth.
Because JEF is Federalist, its actions can be top-down, but also and mostly bottom-up. Without our local sections, the two upper levels are weakened. I would like to improve the bottom-up organisation, using the experiences of twinning like JEF-Oberrhein and JEF-Pyrenees Mediterranean, to other border sections. These twinnings should be articulated in three axes:
β’ Creating a common coordination structure: it would not go against the national sections, since they would be involved in the creation process.
β’ Creating a sense of belonging to a common territory with the same needs: through the promotion of a common history and culture, cross-border actions.
β’ Creating large-scale events within the euro-section: these events would put the common structure in the map.
The final objective would be the establishment of regional hubs in which the sections give feed back to each other and allow us to develop a more efficient local coordination and specific communication. Of course, these experiences are not obliged to stay local, and the promotion of transnational cooperation is also an important objective.
These are some of my ideas for the future of JEF.
The Political Commissions and Task Forces have proven themselves to be an effective and sufficient system. However, I think we should create or reactivate for this mandate a new Task Force for the European Elections. As dialogue and listening to each other are core values, not only for our society, but also for JEF to work efficiently, it will be a great pleasure to discuss this with the directly elected members.
I have worked with building up JEF Sweden for 4 years and I know the difficulties with trying to start up a JEF section. Iβve recruited and tried my best to keep it alive, even after covid stagnated and eroded our member count.
I want to work with capacity building and grow our numbers, especially in smaller sections. Thereβs potential for members, we just have to get a communication/toolkit that can work in the most smallest section. I want to participate with the capacity building task force and share my experience there.
Numbers is strength and thatβs something we need for the upcoming European elections. We could always use a stronger base and more members that can help to spread our message in the elections. Especially the smaller sections, because it is in the smaller sections that find the most EU resistance. So I think itβs there we should focus the most.
Contact Details:
Email: gerganablazheva@gmail.com ; gerganablazheva@abv.bg
Phone: +359 879 338 948
Facebook/Linkedin: Gergana Blazheva
I am Gergana, 23 years old, and I am from Bulgaria. I joined JEF in 2017 when I started my first year at university and have been serving as President of JEF Bulgaria since December 2018. I became more involved with the organization after participating in an International Seminar in Sofia in November of 2017. Because of the people that I met during this seminar, I became intrigued to know what is uniting young people from all over the continent together and I wanted to learn more about the challenges that people experience in other counties of the EU. I wanted to gain a profound knowledge of democracy, federalism, human rights and values, as well as what is the EUβs place on the international scene. Throughout my time in JEF Iβve not only taken part in multiple seminars and trainings all over Europe, but had the pleasure to organize some of them- most recently a weeklong seminar in Sofia about βImproving the European Democracyβ. All of this made me fall in love with the idea of having an active European-wide civil society that is driven by a common goal and powered by endless sleepless nights with engaged, and highly motivated young people.
Apart of JEF, I am a student of European Studies at Sofia University, I love traveling, meeting new people, speaking different languages, doing sports, and even more than cooking, I like eating.
I have a few motivations behind my wish to run for Executive Board member.
As President of JEF Bulgaria, a section that was about to collapse, I am proud of what we have achieved. We have grown and drawn the interest of young people who are interested in European politics. During my time in JEF, I have continued gathering knowledge and experience, and I now have the tools to enter and become more involved in the statutory bodies that drive our organization forward. That is why I wish to shift from my national section to the European level of JEF. Bringing smaller and bigger sections closer together is something I believe I can contribute to. I am well connected within our JEF network and understand also the perspective of a smaller national section. Having more EB members from Central and Eastern Europe might encourage more young people from these parts of Europe to engage proactively as they would have closer contact person and someone they could rely on. JEF only stands to benefit from the inclusion of more Eastern European youth, as they are one of the demographics, we most seek to advocate for! In this role I will seek to find the channels and resources so that members from smaller sections have the same opportunity and capacity to perform equally.
Likewise, as an EB member, I want to expand the communication to sections that have yet to build this tradition of involvement. In concrete terms, this means that we, as an EB, need to strive for all sections to have access and availability to use tools developed by JEF Europe.
Overall, I believe that Iβve gained the necessary experience to shift into a more influential role and add value to sections other than my own to JEF Europe.
Finally, if elected, Iβd would like to be contact person for Task Forces Capacity building and Civic Education. I have had the opportunity to take part in a few trainings organized by JEF Europe about Europe@School and most recently, organize events with JEF Bulgaria in the framework of the project βEurope@Homeβ. Also with JEF Bulgaria, I have done advocacy actions and I would like to continue to do so, but this time, with more people from our European family.
Πs an organization, JEF needs to assure that the ideas of its members and other young Europeans are truly represented in Conference on the Future of Europe and that the Commission follows through the results, not just on paper or in conversation. My vision of JEF is one of growth and strength. JEF should continue to grow, be strengthened in already existing countries, and continue outreach to smaller villages and the countryside overall.
TFβs need to create a system through which to better communicate and integrate, so that their shared goals can be streamlined and coordinated to amplify their success and scope. A closer and more intense collaboration between the sections who experience the same or similar difficulties will be certainly fruitful. We should find a way to reach out to alumni and listen to their past experiences and insights, as they might have valuable guidance and advices.
Dear JEFers, I would be very thankful for your support and would be thrilled to shape JEF Europe over the coming two years!
Federalist regards,
Gergana
Linkedin:
Facebook:
Email:
Email:
Email:
Email:
