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Federalism: National, European and Global Perspectives

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Federalism: National, European and Global Perspectives FEDERALISM: NATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Federalist debate and training week-end Milan 9-11 March 2018 REPORT This report provides a narrative account and attempts to provide a reflection of the discussions held. It does not claim to directly represent specific opinions offered by the speakers present at this event. 1 Report Table of Contents SESSION I – FUNDAMENTALS OF FEDERALISM .................................................................................. 3 SESSION II – FEDERALISM AT NATIONAL LEVEL ................................................................................. 5 SESSION III – FEDERALISM AT EUROPEAN LEVEL ............................................................................... 8 SESSION IV – FEDERALISM AT GLOBAL LEVEL .................................................................................. 10 UEF STAFF CONTACT .......................................................................................................................... 11 PARTNERS .......................................................................................................................................... 12 2 Report SESSION I – FUNDAMENTALS OF FEDERALISM Speakers: Luisa TRUMELLINI, Secretary-General, Movimento Federalista Europeo GIUSEPPE MARTINICO, Associate Professor of Comparative Public law at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa and Fellow at the Centro Studi sul Federalimo of Turin ALBERTO MARTINELLI, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Milan ROBERTO CASTALDI, Director of CESUE (Centre for European and Global Governance) and Associate Professor of Political Theory at eCampus University FEDERICO OTTAVIO REHO, Research Officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, Brussels Achieving peace is a fundamental feature of federalism. Federalism as a political theory approaches the concept of peace in a radically different way than all other political theories. Besides recognising that the roots of war are in international anarchy and nationalism (homo homini lupus), it proposes an ethics of international responsibility to regulate international affairs. In this sense for the European Federalists, Luisa Trumellini said, the world federation is a regulating principle and longer-term objective. European federalists know that the world federation is not for today, but it is a key long- term principle for sustainable peace in the world. The same kind of ethical responsibility, Mrs. Trumellini added, must find its expression in the internal organisation of the European Union. A viable way to concretely keep together unity and diversity in Europe must be found. Turning Europe into a federal union would ensure the right allocation of democratic sovereignty at the right level and therefore good governance. However, professor Martinico pointed out that it would be difficult for the European Union to identify one of the already existing federal models that satisfies all the EU’s specificities. It is in general difficult to make a complete legal theory of federalism, because existing federations present too many differences. In particular, prof. Martinico warned from falling into the trap theoretical loop of finding precise distinctions between federal and confederal models. Indeed, the Swiss constitution defines Switzerland as a confederation at the beginning, but then it refers to the “Swiss federal level” in some of its articles. It is probably impossible to draw a legal line between federal and confederal models, which depend rather on politics and public perception of the decision-making. Politics and their perception are indeed of crucial importance for the democratic sustainability of the federal polity. In this sense Trumellini added that in its current state the EU endangers democracy because its institutional architecture does not allow for citizens’ expectations to be met or even fully expressed, thus providing fertile ground for populism and euroscepticism. Prof. Martinelli provided participants with several elements to understand better what populism is and how it works. Modern European populism, he said, is not anti-democratic in itself. It is a political strategy which uses democracy and grows in the shadows of democracy. Populists normally argue that they are the true representatives of democracy. Their rise happens in a democratic way, but they are against constitutionalism and pluralism, as they tend to consider that “their” people can act beyond the limits of the constitutions. Populists treat the people as one, but they adopt arbitrary criteria to establish who the people are. Sometimes elites or intellectuals are cut out from the group of “the people”. In some other cases it can be foreigners, or immigrants. In this sense, populism can very easily blended with nationalism. The reason why populism in modern Europe could spread so much is that 3 Report many different elements affected the society at the same time, indirectly increasing people’s fear and need of protection. These elements are (1) the economic crisis, (2) the unprecedented extent of globalisation, (3) the digital revolution and (4) the movement of masses of people. Is federalism the right model for European integration? Both Prof. Castaldi and Mr. Reho agreed that federalism is the objective European integration should head to. Prof. Castaldi pointed out that European federalism cannot be limited to the use of the community method, as it implies some measure of intergovernmentalism. Instead, the European federation (whatever its name) should be structured as a multi-level system of democratic governance based on both subsidiarity and unity (unity meaning the institutional ability to decide and act together, not just the mere fact of being together). As regards the federal forms of government, there can be several options: (1) a parliamentary government (which seems less likely after the rejection of transnational electoral lists in the European Parliament in February 2018), (2) a presidential system, with direct election of one president common to both the European Commission and European Council and (3) a semi-presidential system, involving a more political Commission, more control powers for the Parliament and a collective presidency by the European Council. Mr. Reho brought the attention to the question of which model of federal union is both desirable and possible for Europe, also taking all its member states’ current political differences into account. In particular, he questioned that an “ever closer union” would be the most suitable direction of European integration. As an alternative model, he proposed a European integration where there is “as much union as necessary, as little union as possible”. Indeed, also considering the traditional goals of the European project (peace, security, prosperity and identity), he defended the idea that integration should refocus on core areas of traditional federal competence (i.e. foreign and defence policy, border control and four freedoms), while maintaining a strict subsidiarity on cultural and other issues. As a possible name for this model he suggested “federal union of states” rather than “federal state”, as the latter would be politically less acceptable to European decision-makers. 4 Report SESSION II – FEDERALISM AT NATIONAL LEVEL The case of Switzerland, by Gilbert CASASUS, Professor of European Studies and Director of the Centre for European Studies of the University of Fribourg Prof. Casasus explained how the Swiss model of double majority (i.e. majority of cantons combined with the majority of citizens) could be good for the European Union if suitably embedded in its decision-making processes. However, he also warned of the possible shortcomings of this system. For instance, in the event of a Swiss accession to the EU, it may happen that the majority of the Swiss people votes in favour of the accession, but then accession does not happen because the majority of cantons, unwilling to give up local power, votes against it. In this sense, the federal system of Switzerland itself would be an obstacle to EU accession. Local interests might prevail on the general interest as expressed by the people themselves. Nonetheless, a model of national referenda on EU-wide issues like those held in France and the Netherlands in 2005 cannot fit to a polity such as the EU. A matter like the EU Constitution should not have been decided only by the people of 2 single countries. EU-wide issues require really EU-wide referenda. This said, the very nature of the European Union requires the EU to come up with its own federal way, it cannot just import and transpose a pre-made model from elsewhere, it is too different from any other polity in the world. The case of the United States, Paolo VACCA, Secretary-General, UEF Mr. Vacca explained how federal States undergo evolutions that change their structure throughout their history. Market, society, geopolitical factors and internal political dynamics can also change federal States radically. This is what happened throughout the history of the United State of America and what to some extent may be expected to happen to the European Union. For the USA in particular, Mr. Vacca argued that three different phases of its federal history can be singled out: (1) foundation, (2) consolidation between 1789 and 1900 and (3) transformation from 1900 to nowadays. Looking at the most recent outcomes of the transformation of the US federal system, the EU can learn a number of lessons. For instance,
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