United States of Europe

(This is my entry to MotF 144 over on AH.com. Once the voting thread's up, I'll post a link, and I encourage you all to go vote! EDIT: Here's the link, though please note you'll have to have an AH.com account to vote.)

Welcome to the United States of Europe. In this universe, things went very differently in the Napoleonic Wars, and Napoleon himself became convinced of the wisdom of preserving the Continental System, rather than continuing on the warpath (except, of course, for a new Crusade against the Ottoman Empire, taking all its European lands for France). After his death, his successor, an alternate Napoleon II [2], carried out many actions that would he believed would aid in preserving French hegemony over the continent. Ironically, almost all of these actions involved giving up French power in some way. The first was the re-distribution of land among France and her more directly controlled puppets [3], and the granting of independence to many lands under French rule [4]. The second was the creation of a "European Council," made up of representatives from all the nations of Europe who would come together and "advise" (read: decide the line to tread for) the various national governments on matters of foreign policy and trade.

There was, of course, some opposition to the greater integration in Europe, or as many saw it, the extension of French influence into the domestic policies of nominally independent states. The greatest center of this opposition was the Austrian Empire, who saw Napoleon II willingly lessening the French grip on Europe and mistook it for weakness on the part of France and decided to pull out of the Continental System. This did not go well for them. It took just one full year for not just the Grande Armée, but a multitude of smaller national militaries, to crush the Austrian Empire. After the defeat of Austria, the European Council made the decision to dismember it. They threw large chunks to states who had contributed greatly to the war effort (and had natural claims on said chunks) [5], and granting independence to Bohemia-Moravia and Hungary, who had revolted and switched sides in the middle of the war.

As the European Council grew ever more powerful after the Austrian Revolt (as it was termed), many powerful multinational political groups began to question its undemocratic nature as a secretive, unelected group of power brokers. After years of mounting pressure to reform the Continental System's shared government, which had become bloated and somewhat redundant, with no actual direction behind the growing of its bureaucracy, the European Council made an announcement that would shock the world: the Continental System was to be disbanded. In its place, the United States of Europe would govern an ever closer union of European states through its central decision-making body, the 400-member Senate. [6]

While the political "parties" in the European Senate are more faction-like, most having no official structure or whips, it still follows a parliamentary structure partially based upon the British one, with a far-less-powerful President of the Senate taking the place of the Prime Minister. [7] The Senate's faction-parties are vague enough that every representative can be grouped into one of four groups:

• Jacobins — Have evolved into proto-socialists in some ways, supporting strong government, greater social spending, and interventionist economic policies in most areas. However, they are strongly free-trade (within the borders of the USE), deeply militarist, and have adopted some slightly more conservative social policies to compete with the Catholics. Highly federalist, and would prefer abolishing the various monarchies in the states where they still exist. Are seen as the “party of the establishment” in the USE in many ways. Bases of support include: France, the various formerly French or French-liberated states (i.e. Illyria, Greece, etcetera), Moldavia-Wallachia (thanks to their militarism in the face of Russia), and Poland. Will coalition with Liberals or Catholics. 
• Liberals — Your standard classical liberals. Pro-free trade, anti-interventionist, anti-military, anti-Church. Most would prefer the abolishment of the monarchies, but will settle for constitutional monarchies. Are more confederalist than federalist—want to see more unions within the USE (i.e. Italy, Germany, etcetera). Bases of support include: parts of the Rhine, Northern Italy, Batavia, Switzerland, Bohemia-Moravia and Denmark. Will coalition with Jacobins and some Regionalist parties.
• Catholics — Exist as a reaction to the Jacobins’ and Liberals’ largely secular outlooks. Is deeply socially conservative, favors absolute monarchies (though it has no official line on the Union), and advocates the establishment of the Catholic Church as the official state religion of the USE. Is also very pro-interventionist and classically conservative. Takes much of the base of support away from Regionalist parties where it is strong. Bases of support include: Southern Italy (esp. the Papal States), Spain, and parts of the Rhine. Will coalition with anyone that offers concessions for them.
• Regionalists — Not a single party, but a sweeping category of various localist parties that advocate everything from a weakening of the Union to its total dissolution. They vary on every other issue, from monarchists to communists to extreme Protestants. Bases of support include: Hungary, Prussia, and the Balkans. Most parties will not coalition, though some will with various other parties. 
  

[3] - Formerly directly-ruled French land was given to Italy and the Rhine, as well as some extra land for Batavia that it hadn't ruled before being conquered by Napoleon I.

[4] - Batavia, the Papal States, Illyria, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Sardinia were all given independence.

[5] - The Rhenish got Austria proper, the Poles got about 2/3 of Galicia-Lodomeria, and Moldavia-Wallachia got the other 1/3.

[6] - Originally, the Senate made only foreign policy and trade decisions, but now it commands the USE's integrated military (though not the individual state militaries that still exist) and the USE's various social programs.

[7] - The President of the Senate basically serves the same function as the OTL USA's Speaker of the House, with one or two differences.