Abstract
In 1948, federalists formulated a project of United States of Europe at a Congress in La Haye. But they were defeated by unionists who wanted mere intergovernmental cooperation between European states. Nowadays, this continues to be a recurrent debate: is the European Union (EU) a federal state?
Concerning the definition of a federal state, the only point on which authors agree is that there is not just a single definition . But it can help to try and define this concept by opposition to the one of intergovernmental cooperation, where a group of sovereign states assemble to deal with common problems on the basis of a treaty. Decisions are taken unanimously and only create rights and obligations for the member states. Conflicts between them are settled by a political organ .
A federal state is also a group of states, but the states composing it have surrendered a part of their sovereignty in favor of an entity having its own legal system and competences, such as foreign affairs and monetary policy. The repartition of powers is made according to a constitution, which is, at least formally, a unilateral act of the people . Federal authorities are able to create executive law with direct effect on the citizens of each state. Federal institutions are independent from the member states even if the latter may be represented in them. If a member state infringes on federal law, it can be sued by its citizen before the courts. Besides, a federal state has symbols like a national day, a currency, etc and its citizens are united by a national feeling.
