International
Public Policy
Review
The European Project:
A Step Towards Better Global Governance
Levi Leatherberry 
IPPR 2012/2013
Beyond all eloquence, beyond all intelligence there is still today not a single panEuropean federal political party. The utter necessity of a pan-European political party,
which would aim to assist and create truly democratic and unified Europe has been
clearly desired by many pan-European scholars the very inception of the EU. Indeed
the 'father' of the European Union Altiero Spinelli was also the co-founder of the
Union of European Federalists (UEF). Today even a section of the EU budget is set
aside purely to fund pan-European parties at the tune of around 30 million Euros.
But the UEF is just an NGO and of the 12 organizations registered for this 30 million
Euros not a single one is federalist. They are nationalist, quasi-fascist and socialist.
The newly registered “Alliance of European National Movements” of which BNP is a
member receives 300,000 Euro to criticise and demand segregation within the EU 1.
1
Justin Parkinson, “BNP rejects calls to curb its EU money as ‘totalitarianism’,” (BBC News, 2013), 1.
International Public Policy Review • Vol.7, No 2 (June 2013)
The School of Public Policy • University College London
The Rubin Building 29/30 • WC1 9QU • London
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/
International Public Policy Review 1
Furthermore, the European Alliance for Freedom in 2011 is outspokenly Euro-sceptic
and receives registered 0.4 million Euro from the EU2.
Although these funds shy from the 7+ million Euro the leftist parties get from the
same fund they are vital in securing permanent members in headquarters in European
capitals which otherwise lack in many circumstances even this minimal funding and
support to their radical views3. But the socialist and Marxist organizations that take the
bulk of the funding do not necessarily hold pro-integration views of Europe either and
are seemingly more than happy to sit in their national or elected (as quite a few seem
to be) offices in the European union and pander to nationalism and Euroscepticism as
it benefits their funding and membership. None of the parties promote a federal unified
government for Europe, or a single unified European form of citizenship expressly or
directly and they certainly do not campaign regularly for it. This is vital to political
evolution within the EU in a positive direction.
I find it then ironic that the EU does not fund a party founded in part by its ideological
founder. Instead it funds the opposition to federalism which is at the heart of the
European debate, it is not as if the dialogue is whether Europe should be a unitary
state, or a socialist state, or a fascist state it is predominantly a federal vs. national
issue. The only party the EU should be funding is a federal party. The United States of
Europe was preceded by another social experiment with nationalism the United States
of America, in which separatist states were overcome internally – through a single
federal system. The European Experiment will likely be successful the same way in its
external experiment with overcoming nationalism.
I am not a federalist or European yet I support the fulfilment of a single federal
Europe. Why? Because it shows that nationalism can be overcome within our
lifetimes. Although the systems which replace it will not be perfect, as no system ever
is, it will be the work of future generations to improve and develop the systems they
inherit.
2
European Parliament. “Grants from the European Parliament to political parties at European level 2004-2012”
(EU Grants, 2013), 1-2.
3
European Parliament. “Grants from the European Parliament to political parties at European level 2004-2012”
(EU Grants, 2013), 1-2.
2
The European Project
However, if the EU declines due to petty nationalism then this is a sad reflection of the
times in which we live, and will be a psychological blow to other post-nationalist
movements worldwide. A unified Europe on a strong transparent, inclusive and
unified system could be a stepping-stone to a global experiment in creating a just and
equitable form of supra-national global governance.
MSc Global Governance (2012/13), School of Public Policy, University College
London. Contact: l.leatherberry.12@ucl.ac.uk