Showing that the heart of our community beats louder than ever despite COVID-19.
On 4 and 5 April 2020, the biannual Federal Committee of JEF on European level was supposed to take place in Hamburg. However, facing the pandemic, the amazing JEF Europe secretariat made it possible – for the first time ever – to shift the gathering of over 100 JEFers to an online platform, where we discussed, amended and adopted several new political positions.
A big and motivated team of JEFers from Belgium participated as observers, took actively part in the discussions and presented JEF Belgium’s contributions to the resolutions in the three different Political Commissions (what’s this? see below). Our president Anna-Lena Sender represented us as national delegate during the FC and convinced the FC members about our final amendments to the text.
This is also the moment to thank again the chairs of the PCs for their great job!!
And: Did you know that a JEF Belgium board member is one of them?
Our former president, Ine Tollenaers, is a directly elected member of the FC and successfully chairing PC3 with new resolutions about Africa and the Western Balkans.
So, finally, what kind of new political positions did we adopt?
- Calling for a European Constituent Assembly
- Building on the commitment to the Conference on the Future of Europe
- Organising a meaningful and inclusive youth agora
- Developing a European Constitution or a new Treaty
- For a coordinated EU response to tackle the COVID-19 health emergency
- A need for bold and urgent responses
- More solidarity and a more coordinated EU response
- Making public health a shared EU competence
- Better integrated and more sustainable mobility infrastructure for an Ever Closer Union
- Acknowledging the need for strong and coherent climate action
- Coordinated action on transnational transport networks
- Leading by example at JEF
- Towards a strong, future-oriented relationship with Africa
- Promoting a strategic partnership with Africa
- Consolidating development efforts and expanding exchanges
- Supporting federalist movements in Africa
- Towards the accession of the Western Balkan countries
- Eliminating unanimity from the decision-making procedure
- Prioritizing enlargement in the Western Balkans
- Protecting the Rule of Law within the EU
At the FC, we also decided to set in place the following task forces, which can be joined by everyone in order to contribute to the goal of the TF or to receive support:
- TF Green Transition
- TF Empowerment & Diversity
- TF Civic Education
- TF Resilient JEF
- TF Y-FED
- TF Capacity Building
Last but not least, the Democracy under Pressure Awards 2020 took place during the FC as well, giving an opportunity to thank and highlight the commitment of sections, which participated actively in the campaign, even in times of COVID-19 measures.
E
t oui: Our local section JEF Liège received an award for the best video under this campaign, raising awareness and protesting against the threats to our democracies and fundamental values by illiberal, nationalist and authoritarian temptations, which have spread across national governments and our society. More about the campaign.