Pooling sovereignty in transnational institutions is the answer to the aggression that national fragmentation breeds. Federalism supplies three principles for it: democratic legitimacy through elections, solidarity through financial transfers, and subsidiarity across levels of government, not a superstate.
On the background of the catastrophic experiences with nationalism and as a result of two world wars, personalities from different backgrounds of society and countries came together in Montreux (Switzerland), in 1947, to discuss new governance orders for Europe as for the World.
They all have been united in the conviction that the fragmentation and separation of people on the basis of national power will lead sooner or later to new aggressions and at the end to new wars.
The solution of this dilemma is the pooling of sovereignty on the transnational level with supranational competences and supranational governance structures. Federalist solutions offer the best answer to accommodate and solve the problem. Federalism has the ability to implement three important principles: democracy, solidarity and subsidiarity.
Federalist Supranational governance looks for the support and the legitimacy by the people. Free and fair elections for the respective transnational parliament is a cornerstone.
Solidarity by financial transfer systems between stronger and weaker members of the transnational political union is another key element.
Last but not least is the subsidiarity principle inherent of federalist governance concepts. Not a Superstate, as nationalists and populists are always trying to attack efforts for supranational governance, but a well balanced multilevel repartition of competencies between local, regional, national and supranational level.
About the author
JL
Jo Leinen was a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2019 and President of European Movement International from 2011 to 2017. He was President of the Union of European Federalists and is one of its Honorary Presidents.
Supranational Federalism, The World Citizens' Journal, is a quarterly in English edited by Guido Montani, honorary member of the Union of European Federalists. Published since September 2025 under the auspices of the Altiero Spinelli Institute for Federalist Studies in Ventotene, it seeks a dialogue between peoples, nations and civilisations on a just and peaceful world order founded on democratic supranational institutions. It is open to writers from every country and especially invites young people to contribute.
Cite this article in MLA style
Leinen, Jo. “Federal Governance for Europe and the World.” Supranational Federalism, Sept. 2025, https://federalists.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/SF-No-1-September-2025.pdf. Republished in Mondial, https://mondial.press/articles/2025/09/federal-governance-for-europe-and-the-world/.
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