To the governments of the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Italian Republic:

We urge you to begin negotiations toward establishing a European Federation. The federation main competences should be foreign policy, defense, intelligence, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and space.

The federation should be open to any country that is a member of both the European Union and NATO, and has the euro as its official currency. As a successor state to its members, the federation will be a member of these organizations. It should have a single delegation at United Nations, and a permanent seat on the Security Council, taking over France’s position.

The federation should be democratic, and with a federal parliament and a federal government.  Citizens of the federation who are elected to the European Parliament could possibly also serve in the federal parliament, to avoid two separate elections at European level. Details of governance would be specified in a federal constitution, which would grant the federation sovereign fiscal powers to levy taxes and issue public debt.

Following the election of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. president, it is critical that Europe assumes full responsibility for its defense and achieves true autonomy. The only effective way is through a real federation, with a federal government that can give a clear, single strategy to its unified forces, and that can build the required military capabilities and a single military industrial complex that can enable Europe to defend itself effectively and to project power in order to safeguard its interests.