Officially established on 15 and 16 December 1946 in Paris, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) coordinates the activities of some 50 national federalist movements.
From 15 to 22 September 1946, militant federalists from 14 European countries met in Hertenstein, Switzerland, with a view to adopting a common declaration laying the foundations for a European organisation of federalists, which became the Union of European Federalists (UEF) on 15 and 16 December 1946.
In June 1947, Henri Brugmans, Dutch President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), emphasises the importance of federalism for the economic, political and social reconstruction of Europe.
In May 1947, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) publishes a pamphlet entitled Building Europe which outlines the movement’s principles and objectives: ‘To unite without unifying, to liberate without disrupting, and to coordinate without restraining.’
The National Congress of the French Union of Federalists (UFF), held in Paris on 12 and 13 June 1948, adopts a motion calling for the urgent establishment of a European Parliamentary Assembly.
In October 1948, in an article published in the French journal Fédération, Raymond Silva, Secretary-General of the Union of European Federalists, sounds a warning for the unity of the European continent and reviews the British position on the plan for a federal Europe.
In November 1948, the French periodical Esprit publishes an article by Henri Brugmans, President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), in which he explains the reasons that have led him to take the federalist route towards European unity.
On 16 November 1948, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on and takes a critical look at the debates which took place during the Congress of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), held in Rome on 7 November.
On 20 November 1948, the German weekly Rheinischer Merkur gives its impressions of the Congress of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) held in Rome and particularly emphasises the various ideological disputes within the federalist movement concerning the establishment of a united Europe.
In December 1948, Bernard Voyenne, Editorial Secretary for the French daily newspaper Combat and federalist activist, considers the ideological disputes which took place during the Congress of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) in Rome and emphasises the importance of the federalist doctrine in the building of a united Europe.
In December 1948, Henri Frenay, President of the Central Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), and Marcel Hytte, militant Socialist and independent federalist, respond to the questionnaire on the concept of Europe which was published by the Belgian monthly magazine Les Cahiers Socialistes.
On 31 October 1949, at its Extraordinary General Meeting in Paris, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) adopts a draft European Federal Unity Pact which it hopes to have adopted by the Council of Europe.
On 31 October 1949, at its Extraordinary General Meeting in Paris, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) decides to launch a public campaign in support of the Federal Pact which it intends to submit to the Council of Europe.
On 15 November 1949, concerned at the slow progress of the European integration process, the Executive Committee of ‘La Fédération’, a founder member of the Union of European Federalists, sets three major priorities with a view to the constitution of a federal Europe.
In December 1949, the French journal Cahiers du Monde Nouveau publishes the transcript of a lecture given in Strasbourg at the session of the European Assembly by Henri Brugmans, President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), in which he sets out the main thrust of federalist views regarding the future establishment of a united Europe.
In the 1952 issue of La voix fédéraliste, Altiero Spinelli, Secretary-General of the European Federalist Movement, evaluates the work accomplished by the Union of European Federalists (UEF) over the course of the previous year.
In this interview, Jean-Pierre Gouzy, former Secretary-General of the French Union of Federalists and former member of the Federal Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), discusses the objectives and activities of the French Union of Federalists, in particular when debates were being held regarding the European Defence Community (EDC).