European Federation (Path of Humanity)

The European Federation, often referred to by their acronym EF or often incorrectly referred to as their sphere's name EU, is a country that is located in Europe. It spans over 3 million square kilometers, making it the seventh largest nation in the world by area. Home to over 200 million people, it is also the eigth largest country by population.
Formed in 2029 to combat the United States of the Anglosphere and the Russian Federation, the EF initally consisted France, Germany, Benelux and Poland. It was not a replacement to the European Union, but anyone within the European Union is effectively a puppet of the EF due to their economic and political links. Later on in 2029, all of the Nordic States would join the Federation, followed by Austria, Czechia and Slovakia in 2030. Since then, the EF has maintained its borders, refusing to admit anybody in order to stabilize the nation. They are bitter rivals with the United States and Russia, and also shares a distrust with the Chinese.
As one of the only countries left in the world without any significant barriers or changes to the principles of a free and democractic country, the EF seeks a more socialist economy, with relatively high taxes in exchange for better services like free healthcare and education, while regulating monopolies and breaking them up if needed. This stood in stark contrast to the USA, who believed in a Laissez-Faire system of a completely free and privatised economy, letting capitalism do its own thing. The EF also controls a relatively large army, rivaling those of the Untied States, and significantly better in quality than the Russians.
== History ==
In the words of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "From the Pyrennes to the Vistula, the European Federation is here to eliminate the hatred and rivalry of our nations. The Federation is here to ensure that our continent can live in peace and in spiritual happiness, and instead of giving others lead, we give each other a brotherly hand." While the concept of Pan-Europeanism is nothing new, the idea of a united liberal Europe seemed far-fetched for years, due to oppsition by many nationalist parties like Alternative for Germany or the National Front. However, when necessity meets dreams, people will want that dream to be a reality.
The idea of a centralized European Federation began to creep up after the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War in September 2022, which ended with Ukraine losing Crimea and the separtist Donbas regions. Then French President Emmuanel Macron believed that Europe should be more independent from the United States, and should also carve their own course. However, the idea would not became a serious proposal until the annexation of the United Kingdom and Ireland into the new United States of the Anglosphere in 2026. This annexation directly led to the Euro-American Split, as all European nations left NATO, ending the alliance altogether. Post-split, Macron and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would began a series of discussions about the future of Europe with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Mayen. Later on, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the country's king, Wilhelm Alexander would get involved in these talks, along with Belgium's Tom van Grieken and King Philippe. The discussions are initally about the status of the EU, but they would later became more about the unification of Europe in general.
On April 25th, 2028, the EU announced that France, Benelux, Poland and Germany would hold an election to determine if the five countries would unite into one. The Dutch and the Belgians can keep their monarchy, and all states will follow a similar system to the USA. The votes will not be seperate, meaning that even if one country has a 100% against rate, they will still join the Federation regardless if the overall result is more than 55% for unification. When the final results came in after the election on the 26th of September, the vote passed with 60% saying yes. After mass protests about the "rigged" vote, and in particular within Poland (which by the way it was not rigged), the European Federation was formed on the 1st of January, 2029. The nation would be initally led by von der Mayen until the 2029 Federal Elections, to which the chairman of the European Peoples' Party. Mario Czaja would win. He appointed Macron as his Deputy Prime Minister, in recognition of his efforts to unify Europe. 
The new EF would immediately gain in popularity on the world stage, as many countries rushed to join the new Federation like the Mediterranian nations and Eastern Europe. Czaja and Macron knew that admitting so many nations all at once will be massively destabilizing, and so he created the "European Cooperative States". Being an ECS means that you are basically a member of the EU, but you would not be a full state under the EF. The plan worked, and many states soon joined the EF as an ECS member from this status. Later in 2029, all of Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland will be admitted into the EF, and the former Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson finds herself as the President of the Parliament. In 2030, Czechia, Slovakia and Austria are also admitted into the new Federation, and the country became a booming hub of economic, political and social freedom. However, many Eurosceptic groups like AfD saw the new EF as a horrible idea, and a radical senator even blew up a bomb under Czaja and Macron's table while they were dining together. The assassination attempt failed due to the bomb being rather weak, though all the glass shards broken did injure Macron himself.
As the country enters into its fourth year of existence, it is on the brink of admitting the Baltics and Ukraine into the Federation, and it's probably the most stable and free out of the major powers. Ethnic and social tensions are somewhat on the rise, but overall, the situation is contained fairly well. With Russia near total collapse, the EF is spending more and more money on defense against the Russian refugees that are about to come in once the civil war inevitably starts. But will the EF invade Russia after they inevitably collapse to liberate Belarus? Or will they just sit back and do nothing as they watch Russia burn? This question might be best left unanswered.
== Society ==
WIP
Category:Path of Humanity