User:Brian New Zealand/FCS

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The Federal Commonwealth Society (FCS) is an organisation that promotes closer ties among Commonwealth nations, centred around the core group of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, Cook Islands, Niue and their Dependencies, referred to collectively as CANZUK. Founded in London, UK in 2002, the FCS Head Office is now located in Toronto, Canada.

thumb|right|500px|Map showing proposed member states coloured green. Ultimately, the FCS seeks the creation of a CANZUK federation, perhaps including other members of the Commonwealth. Its more immediate aim is the establishment of free trade, freedom of movement and reciprocal citizenship rights among the CANZUK countries, along the lines of the Closer Economic Relations and Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement agreements between New Zealand and Australia.

Membership of the FCS is free and open to both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth citizens anywhere in the world. Input from everyone is most welcome. Members can vote on and discuss variations of the proposal.

The key reason for the federation is to build global economic links amongst countries that share similar constitutional, institutional and cultural links and to free these countries from outside economic domination. Another main purpose for federation of the four CANZUK countries is for all of them to enjoy access to all of the markets of their current economic partnerships including NAFTA, the European Union, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. However, since those core nations included have been selected for their large cultural similarities and mostly identical institutions, the proposal to have Queen Elizabeth II as head of the federation is due to the fact that all proposed nations so far have Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The FCS plan also clearly indicates that a republican model for the federation is an acceptable alternative and that the constitution of the proposed federation is up to its people to decide. Even though the FCS currently advocates federation of only the core CANZUK countries for now due to economic reasons, the FCS has openly admitted that it is perfectly willing for other Commonwealth Nations, including republics, to be included in the federation with time so long as they meet the democratic, civil rights and economic stability of other Federation members.

[edit] Structure

The Federal Commonwealth Society is composed of general members and an FCS council, which currently consists of a president (Mr. James Alcock), two vice presidents (Mr. Micah Sicotte (UK & Canada), Mr. Ben Simpson (Australia & New Zealand), a secretary (Mr. Ashley Ryder) and president emeritus (Mr. Nick Thompson) with area representation for Northern Ireland and London. The aim of the FCS council is purely administrative and there is little difference between the members of the FCS council and a general member in terms of relative power within the FCS.

There are no membership fees and both commonwealth and non-commonwealth nationals may join. Projects are ongoing and include associations with political, social and independent organisations in the CANZUK member countries and related spheres. Further details are given on the FCS webpage.