President
Below you can find the current published candidacies for the position of President of JEF Europe.
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Below you can find the current published candidacies for the position of President of JEF Europe.
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Hi! I am Antonio, I am 28 years old, and I was born in a small town in the South of Italy, Avellino. At 18 I moved to Rome to attend University and pursue my passion for history. I earned then a BA and a MA in Modern History and specialized in European integration history, studying especially the Movements for a United Europe. As you may understand from this last info, during my university years I met, by chance, some federalists. Slowly I got involved in JEF Rome activities and attended the Ventotene Seminar in 2013. From there, my whole life changed.
I realized that the Federalist cause is not just something I believe in: it became a political priority, the way to finally look at the future and with hope. Not with the evanescent hope of a dreamer, but with the will and the conviction of someone who has a concrete and realistic goal. It is not just about the cause though: I have chosen to be fully engaged in organized federalism also because I met some special people on my path. People who make the “contradiction between facts and values, a personal matter”; people with amazing competencies who can stay humble and always try to listen to everyone and create the most inclusive environment possible. People who keep making JEF something different, in the best possible way.
My JEF history has been quite long, I acted as Secretary in JEF Rome before becoming JEF Italy national Treasurer in 2015. Two years later, I was elected Secretary General and I’ll finish my second mandate in November, just before the European Congress. During these years, I have always taken part not only in the national but also in the European JEF life, by being always involved in statutory events and campaigns. Federalist activism is in fact implemented from the local to the European level. There is no hierarchical scale, but it is a complementary effort.
Among other things, I have been among the organizers of March for Europe 2017, of the Ventotene national and international Seminars since 2015 and I have been elected in the board of the European Movement International (EMI) in 2020.
When I was asked about the possibility of being a candidate for JEF presidency, a lot of feelings came up to my mind. First, I felt humbled by the amount of trust I was receiving. This led to being also kind of scared about the real perspective of being a candidate, as I perceive federalist positions not only as an honor but as a big responsibility, too.
A historical responsibility - given the long and great legacy of the federalist movements, the huge amount of work that generations of federalists put into JEF through the decades.
A political responsibility - because we are facing crucial years that will form the future of Europe. From the Conference on the Future of Europe to the Next Generation EU, to environmental and international crises and last, but not least, the pandemic and its social and political consequences. A federal Europe is more often than not the long-term solution to tackle these crises. It is our message and our arguments that we need to clearly communicate with others. Thanks to the work done during the previous mandates, JEF has become, more and more, one of the important voices of European civil society and has the possibility to have an impact. Therefore, the JEF of the next two years needs to keep this high standard and build on that, working hard not for JEF itself, but to concretely help to build the best possible future for European citizens and making steps towards a more democratic and united Europe, towards a federal Europe.
A personal responsibility - because we are an association of volunteers and, to achieve all that JEF has achieved, it takes a huge amount of work; the work of thousands of activists who believe in a better Europe and who work, day by day, with that aim; the amazing work of our European Secretariat who played a great role in JEF success. It is important to have respect for all the efforts, not only the flashy ones but also the unknowns. The only concrete way to do so, for people in an elected position, is to always be accountable and to be coherent with the kind of commitment every position needs to have.
However, I feel that this amount of responsibility is also motivating me even more. Working with JEFers makes me feel energized and I then decided to put this energy, this passion at the service of you all for the next two years.
A lot of great challenges are in front of us, as young people, as federalists, as a youth organization. I strongly believe we can aim high and achieve great results.
The next two years will be plenty of great occasions.
Conference on the Future of Europe, and beyond - We must complete the amazing amount of work done around the Conference on the Future of Europe. It will end next spring and we’ll need to be as loud as possible to carry on our proposals to make Europe better. This means, a big event to finalize the work on the Conference and to start working on the following chapter of our political engagement, should be a concrete goal.
It will be in fact important to work, from the Congress onwards, to what is going to happen right after the Conference will end. Opening a debate on the reform of European treaties, getting closer to the next European elections, need to be a priority. This process cannot be limited to EU countries. Talking about treaty change and a constitutional process needs to be also the way to help the enlargement and clarify what the future of the EU will look like.
The future Next Generation EU - A big role in shaping Europe in the next years will be played by “Next Generation EU”. JEF has always affirmed it can’t be just a “one-shot” program and we need to keep going on this path. JEF has to advocate for European new own resources and for a European Fiscal Union to have the institutions finally able to invest consistently in the future of all the European citizens, and to achieve that, we need to advocate together on all levels.
The European Model - What is happening in Afghanistan or in Libya, in Belarus and in Ukraine shows how the EU must also have a unique voice in this globalized world, to spread liberty, democracy, human, civil and social rights. Next year will be crucial to give Europe the possibility to finally have a strong voice in foreign affairs and defense matters. We will have to think of a way how we can pitch our ideas there too.
Moreover, we, as Europeans, cannot be credible internationally, if we are not able to defend, also within EU borders, our fundamental rights, and principles. Continuing with actions like “Democracy Under Pressure” must be the way for JEF to make clear once again that in our Europe, in our future there is no room for those who violate the rule of law, those who discriminate, for those who don’t respect human, civil, and social rights.
Year of European Youth - The European Commission announced that 2022 will be the European Year of Youth. JEF needs to be among the civil society organizations that affirm that it cannot be just a “photo opportunity”. If someone affirms: “Young people have to be protagonists”, we need to be there reminding them that saying it is not enough. We need to see real changes, on all the important issues, from the environmental crisis to the digital transition, to the fight against youth unemployment.
50 years of JEF - Next year we will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the re-foundation of JEF. It will be the opportunity to fully relaunch the “JEF spirit” after the pandemic. I believe that a deep and continuous dialogue among sections and among the different levels of the organization is essential to make us all impactful and able to spread our ideas and proposals. We will have to run big and important campaigns and we will start preparing the European Parliamentary elections campaign of 2024. All these campaigns should be as shared and inclusive as possible throughout the whole network. When we act united, the sky is the limit, I am sure of this.
United also in our diversity. We are federalists and we need to show it also within the movement. Our diversity will not be a weakness or an obstacle, but our biggest strength. Everyone in JEF needs to feel included and free to share ideas. JEF represents a different way to do politics: a collective and diverse environment, united by a strong common ground of shared values and one great political aim.
Following this shared approach, is then very important to improve even more the capacity building program within JEF, also adding a formation program about Federalism, picking up the idea of the Federalist Academy.
We, as JEFers, have inherited decades of campaigns for a free and united Europe. It all started with the Ventotene Manifesto 80 years ago, but those ideas walked on the legs of young Europeans who destroyed the frontiers in the 50s, who printed the first Euro in the 60s, who were in the squares asking for an elected European Parliament in the 70s.
We say to be “simply a generation ahead”. We will need to prove it, all together, once again – and so we will.