An Achilles heel of the European Union
Right now, the most crippling weakness of the European Union
is the rule of unanimity by which the Commission can only take a political
measure if all member countries agree. When just one country of the 27 says no,
the Commission is stopped in its tracks. A crippling situation.
As the biggest present threat to the EU is the huge Chinese enrichment taking place since 2001, and as China, with this money, has already ‘convinced’ – ‘bribed’ is the better word - the Greek government to say no to any measure the Commission needs to take in its relation with China, the Commission cannot protect the interests of precisely its strongest asset, the single European market. Three times already in 2016 and 2017, has Greece vetoed necessary measures toward China and the Commission is blocked!
Of course when asked, many of the 27 would refuse to give up their right to vetoe, not just Greece, but also most of the ex-Soviet satellite countries would refuse like Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, maybe even one or two Baltics too, so we need another way to eliminate this weakness. This is to create a Europe of two speeds, as proposed by President Macron, in which a core of countries sign an agreement eliminating the role of unanimity between them. Then the Commission would be able to act in the name of this core group. But to get this done, a strong decisiveness on the part of these ‘core’ countries would be necessary. Unfortunately, there are not many politicians who see this problem.
Ursula von der Leyen, German Defense Minister is a positive exception. On March 1st she said: "We are thinking about perhaps moving towards a majority vote in diplomacy and foreign affairs so that we can respond rapidly to crises and speak with one voice, one European voice," That is exactly what the EU needs. And it will mean a EU of two speeds. Some people tout her as the next German Chancellor. She anyway shows more common sense and statesmanship than Juncker right now.
As the biggest present threat to the EU is the huge Chinese enrichment taking place since 2001, and as China, with this money, has already ‘convinced’ – ‘bribed’ is the better word - the Greek government to say no to any measure the Commission needs to take in its relation with China, the Commission cannot protect the interests of precisely its strongest asset, the single European market. Three times already in 2016 and 2017, has Greece vetoed necessary measures toward China and the Commission is blocked!
Of course when asked, many of the 27 would refuse to give up their right to vetoe, not just Greece, but also most of the ex-Soviet satellite countries would refuse like Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, maybe even one or two Baltics too, so we need another way to eliminate this weakness. This is to create a Europe of two speeds, as proposed by President Macron, in which a core of countries sign an agreement eliminating the role of unanimity between them. Then the Commission would be able to act in the name of this core group. But to get this done, a strong decisiveness on the part of these ‘core’ countries would be necessary. Unfortunately, there are not many politicians who see this problem.
Ursula von der Leyen, German Defense Minister is a positive exception. On March 1st she said: "We are thinking about perhaps moving towards a majority vote in diplomacy and foreign affairs so that we can respond rapidly to crises and speak with one voice, one European voice," That is exactly what the EU needs. And it will mean a EU of two speeds. Some people tout her as the next German Chancellor. She anyway shows more common sense and statesmanship than Juncker right now.
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