Vice President

Below you can find the current published candidacies for the position of Vice-President of JEF Europe.

Christelle Savall

Christelle Savall

Contact Details: Email: [e-mail] Twitter: @crmsavall Instagram: @christellesavall Skype: Christelle.savall Facebook: Christelle Savall

About me

Hi everyone! I'm Christelle, and I have been a dedicated member of JEF since 2012.

I am currently a member of the Executive Board (EB), where I am in charge of communication … and so much more! I also founded our new and upcoming JEF section in Luxembourg!

Before the EB, I was in the Federal Committee (FC), a member of the Presidium as well as co-chair of the Task force Capacity Building. I already contributed to this Task Force (TF) as well as to TF Empowerment and Diversity during the previous mandate back where I held the role of internal auditor.

In 2016-17, I was treasurer of JEF-France. Before that, I had successively been in charge of conferences, Vice-President, and President of my section in Paris. I was also in JEF in Sweden/Germany during my ERASMUS exchange semesters.

I monitor projects in Africa at the European Investment Bank. I hold two master degrees in international affairs/ finance from the University of St Gallen and Sciences Po.

Some random things about me: I love to read, to dance (name a partner dance and I probably tried it already), I really enjoy karaoke. I also love to speak different languages: French, English, German, Swedish and Spanish, so feel free to contact me in any of those!

Motivation for the position

JEF made me the person I am today, gave me a voice, extra confidence, competencies and the courage to step forward. Just as importantly, I met many different people and formed meaningful friendships. I now want to become a Vice-President to contribute even more to JEF Europe’s work and action, to its internal organization as well as to its advocacy and outreach work. Should you entrust me with this position, my focus would be to prepare our network organisationally and politically for the 2024 elections, e.g.:

• Strengthen and build back our network and, as you know, strength is in numbers and cohesion. The 50-year anniversary of JEF Europe, that we will celebrate next year, is also the moment to reconnect with each other and get JEF Europe closer to its sections. We need to reinforce the role of point of contact on both sides to better communicate on our priorities.

• On the advocacy side: I would personally like to focus on the French presidency of the EU, as it coincides with the end of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). In the EB I am currently in charge of advocacy on enlargement, Banking union and the Eurozone, so one of my priorities next year would definitely be the 20-year anniversary of our common currency €€€!

Finally, as I was in charge of communications in the board and overseeing our communication officer, I must add that our communication must support both objectives by improving our internal communication and carrying our political voice further and louder!

My vision for the future of JEF

We need to strengthen our network in view of the EU elections. First, it is of utmost importance to consolidate the smallest of our sections, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. While we cannot replace groundwork, we can provide more training and support (Pimp my JEF) dedicated to this organisational growth. At the same time, we have to help create the last two EU sections missing Lithuania and Cyprus. We could then develop interest groups in all current and future enlargement countries.

Through my experience as a contact person of many countries, I experienced how crucial the role of point of contact can be to grow the relationship with and within JEF Europe and help sections flourish, both organisationally and politically. This is especially true for interest groups such as in Ireland, Albania and Estonia, which I helped get started, and smaller sections.

As for medium-size and big sections, our role is also to help them connect their members to JEF Europe and work together to achieve our political goals. As the co-coordinator of Democracy under pressure (DUP) for its 15th anniversary, it really warmed my heart to see our network awaken. DUP also taught me how to work with partners to help spread our ideas.

Speaking of ideas, the anniversary of JEF will be full of advocacy: CoFoE in full swing (we are preparing a bang!), French presidency of the EU, own resources, defence summit, anniversary of the Euro and, as announced recently, the year of youth. All of those moments are opportunities for JEF to advocate and make our federalist voice be heard! And naturally the second part of the mandate will be dedicated to the preparation of the elections of 2024 and there is so much to be done!

Opinion on the needed Political Commissions and Task Forces / Working Groups

As contact person for PC3, I am very happy with the current PCs and the increased focus on the potential advocacy and internal awareness done this mandate. As for TFs, I was a point of contact for TF Capacity Building and TF Empowerment and Diversity, which are both highly needed. TF Civic education and TF Green JEF could also be useful for the upcoming mandate. Finally, with the next mandate starting just before the elections, I believe a TF for the 2024 elections is needed during the second part of the mandate. But all of this is for the FC to decide and for all of us to participate to make the most of PCs and TFs!

Feel free to contact me with any questions, if you want to talk about a point or just to get to know each other!

Juuso Järviniemi

Juuso Järviniemi

Contact Details: Email: [e-mail] Skype: juuso.jarviniemi

About me

I have been a JEFer since 2013, and a directly elected member of the JEF-Europe Federal Committee since 2017, during which time I’ve been a co-chair of the EP2019 Task Force, and Task Force Capacity Building. I also served in the editorial team of The New Federalist for three years, including as the Editor-in-Chief in 2017–2019. I’ve been involved in national- and local- level JEF actions in Finland, the UK, France and Belgium. In 2017–2018, I served as the JEF UK President.

Originally from Finland, I did an MA in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, with a year-long Erasmus exchange in Sciences Po Paris. Last year, I completed an MA in European Political and Governance Studies at the College of Europe, graduating as the best student in my programme. I now live in Brussels, where I'm currently doing a traineeship at the European Commission. I speak Finnish, English, French and Swedish, and I've studied basic German and Spanish.

Motivation for the position and Vision for JEF's future

Along my JEF journey, I’ve gained experience and ideas for developing the organisation, and I would be thrilled to contribute to JEF in the role of Vice-President. Especially after a pandemic that has kept JEFers and sections apart, it is an opportune moment to innovate new ways to connect our European-wide network, and thereby enhance our advocacy work and capacity development.

In terms of advocacy, JEF is at its strongest when members across Europe unite behind shared campaigns and goals. Timely, two-way communication across the network on upcoming activities is necessary for ensuring optimal buy-in from sections for European-wide campaigns and initiatives. By arranging opportunities for JEFers from the sections and from the European level to discuss together as a community in between statutory meetings, we can ensure that information and ideas flow smoothly across the network. This will also reinforce the feeling of belonging to a common JEF family.

In the past years, JEF-Europe has already taken steps towards developing the Political Commissions into multi-purpose laboratories for policy reflection within the organisation. I support the idea, and I believe that the ‘working groups’ created in 2021 offer useful inspiration for developing JEF’s PC work. Within the Internet Governance and migration working groups, JEFers are drafting policy papers that are complementary to official JEF resolutions. In the future, thematic working groups operating underneath the PCs can, for example, prepare policy papers that elaborate on possible pathways for turning JEF’s political demands into reality. Thanks to my experience from coordinating the Internet Governance working group this year, I would be prepared to support the PCs in this task. Given the important role I see for PCs in JEF- Europe’s work, I believe that keeping all three current PCs is appropriate.

Likewise, as a former chief editor of The New Federalist, I strongly believe in the added value of a multilingual webzine for our network. As the organisational backbone behind the webzine, I believe JEF can build the language editions’ capacity for example by supporting them in applying for funding opportunities and in forming partnerships. I would be available to support the webzine according to the best of my capabilities.

Concerning Task Forces, especially TF Capacity Building, TF Empowerment & Diversity and TF Civic Education have continuous missions that remain relevant for JEF. Likewise, in a context of climate emergency, TF Green Transition can offer valuable resources for sections. In the spirit that Task Forces can be created and dissolved according to the network’s current needs, I believe that continuous discussion between the European level and the sections can ensure that JEF’s Task Forces can optimally serve the sections at all times.

Many big developments in European politics can be expected in the next two years. JEF must continue raising citizens’ awareness of the Conference on the Future of Europe, and loudly demand that the conclusions of the Conference translate into concrete actions. The climate and rule of law crises continue to call for federalist advocacy. As societies reopen after COVID, it is also necessary to remember that according to EU law, border controls within the Schengen Area must be temporary, and justifiable as last-resort measures. I believe the federalist movement should be prepared to continue its decades-long mission of defending open borders within Europe.

Finally, the 2024 European elections will come very shortly after the 2023 JEF Congress. Already during the upcoming two-year mandate, it is therefore necessary for the JEF network to start discussing how it will campaign in the elections. By boosting the spirit of togetherness across JEF throughout the coming two years, we will make sure we’re prepared for the challenge waiting for us in 2024.