Europe today is facing problems of a magnitude not seen in 70 years: an ongoing debt crisis and ensuing economic disaster in the south, a large influx of refugees from an imploding Middle East, and renewed military aggression originating from an increasingly autocratic Russia. Considering the current state of affairs, it is to us more obvious than ever before that the nations that make up Europe need to cooperate to effectively address their shared problems in a true Union of European Nations. Radical and alienating as it may seem to some, a political union that spans the continent is the obvious and only way to solve our common problems.

India has preceded us by forming a political Union out of a large and diverse range of peoples with a common history. Their history has many valuable lessons for Europe, and the Indian example can in many cases improve the European Union.

Federal Democracy in India and Europe

Project prepared for the ALDE Individual Members Federalism Project, completed in July 2016.