25/06/2014 Session
In keeping with the proposals made by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), PACE offered today to provide a forum for debating the future political form of the European Union and more specifically the challenges of opting for a European federal democracy.
The resolution adopted by the Assembly defines federalism as the “principle of organising a polity by dividing powers between orders of government” – European and national – which enables unity while guaranteeing diversity. According to the text, the distribution of powers within a federation is governed by the principle of subsidiarity, in the sense that responsibility is to be given to smaller units and that the solution to any problem should be sought as close as possible to citizens.