Welcome
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying the interactions between regional, national, European and global levels of government. Founded in 1945 on the initiative of Sir William Beveridge, it has long made a powerful contribution to the study of federalism and federal systems. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it.
The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.
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FEATURED ARTICLE
Video: “The Brexit Taboo in British Politics”
In this video, the Director of the Federal Trust, Brendan Donnelly, talks about the reluctance of British politicians to discuss Brexit honestly and seriously. In particular, he disagrees with those who wish to rejoin the EU but are afraid to say so. He argues that those who want the UK [...]
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
Video: “The Brexit Taboo in British Politics”
In this video, the Director of the Federal Trust, Brendan Donnelly, talks about the reluctance of British politicians to discuss Brexit honestly and seriously. In particular, he disagrees with those who wish to rejoin the [...]
VIDEO: British Musicians: Victims of Brexit?
In this video, the musician and businessman Peter Cook discusses the implications of Brexit for British musicians touring in Europe with Federal Trust Director Brendan Donnelly. He fears that the new expenses and barriers imposed [...]
The German elections and the future of the euro
The extraordinarily tight outcome of the German elections has created the danger for the European Union of prolonged negotiations before the next federal government can be formed, lasting even as long as until Christmas. However, [...]
Levelling Up … Public Spending?
by Prof. Colin Talbot, Emeritus Professor of Government at the University of Manchester, and Dr. Carole Talbot, Research Associate, University of Cambridge ‘Levelling Up’ is back in the headlines with the move of Michael [...]
Is citizen-led democracy here to stay?
This article was first published by The Brussels Times. Tourists are flying into space and life on Mars seems a less distant possibility. Meanwhile Europeans are busy trying to create a buzz about our future [...]
Haste Ye Back
This article was first published by the European Movement Scotland I had a dream of Europe. Brexit wrecked it. Boris Johnson and his ultra-nationalist cabal of English exceptionalists stole my dream and snuffed it out. [...]
WEBINAR: “Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi: A forgotten Father of Europe?”
7th October 2021 The former Director of the Federal Trust, Dr Martyn Bond, discussed his most recent book “Hitler’s Cosmopolitan Bastard”, a biography of Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi. Coudenhove-Kalergi (RCK) was a central figure in the [...]
EVENT: Climate Change: European responses to a global challenge
Joint event by the Federal Trust with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Global Policy Institute 12th October 2021 The COP26 meeting, hosted by the UK in November, will turn the spotlight on the global challenge of tackling climate [...]
Democratic Citizenship Education in the Light of the Lisbon Treaty
The Treaty of Lisbon sheds fresh light on the purposes of EU citizenship education. The hallmark of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty is that it construes the EU as a dual democracy. The EU is not [...]
Democratic federalism: are we there yet?
This article was first published by The UK in a Changing Europe. If there is one plus to the Covid-19 pandemic it is that many more people in the UK are aware we no [...]