The federalist approach To give people control over their own lives and to give the word democracy a meaning, fundamental changes are needed. Recognition of the rights of the individual, as stated in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights, is a necessary condition for a just society. The federalist principle is that all decisions in society shall not be made on a higher level than necessary. The power structure of society must be such that the authority to deal with a problem lies where the problem arises or naturally belongs. To allow federalism to be effective, institutions must exist at every level with sufficient powers to permit and implement the necessary policies for the good of the individual and the community as a whole.
Problems present themselves at local, regional, European and world levels.
The nation state should be incorporated in a federal structure as well, in order to let the cities and regions be coordinate but independent with the national and European level. A federal Europe based on autonomous entities gives an answer to the above mentioned problems. Even those policies that have to be decided on a higher level should if feasible be administered at a lower level. In order to achieve this a substantial measure of devolution will be required to restore the balance that has been eroded during the development of the centralised nation state. It is important that regional divisions in Europe take account of both cultural aspirations and economic realities.