Germany proposes six reforms for the EU: “Brussels must accelerate.” The world turned upside down

Germany, always the last to show solidarity within the EU, has launched, in a manner that is embarrassing to say the least and inconsistent with its own history, a six-point proposal to “reform the European Union”, primarily regarding foreign and security policy.

The plan was presented by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul during a speech on Wednesday at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin. Citing the war in Iran as an “expression of a changing world order,” Wadephul argued that the EU cannot afford to remain bogged down in its decision-making mechanisms while the world changes rapidly. “Brussels must increase its speed,” he stated, “especially in common foreign and security policy”.

It would also be enough to seriously address the issue of European double standards, starting with a serious and resounding stigmatization of unilateral actions by the USA in the Middle East, and begin to end the policy of weapons for Kyiv and the opacity of the European trilogue.

Farewell to unanimity

But no. Instead, among the most disruptive proposals on the table is the abolition of the unanimity rule in foreign policy decisions, to be replaced by qualified majority voting (at this point, let’s just burn the European Treaties and let everyone return to their national sovereignty, including monetary sovereignty…). The current system, according to the German minister, “allows individual countries to block decisions even for prolonged periods, a luxury that Europe can no longer afford”.

For cases where even a qualified majority cannot be reached, Wadephul then proposed a “enhanced cooperation” mechanism: a group of member states will be able to proceed on certain issues without being held back by others. “Countries that do not want to participate can stay on the sidelines for a certain period, without preventing those who want to move forward from doing so,” he declared.

In the EU, it seems, the “big brains” don’t just sit on the benches of the Italian Executive…

EU enlargement in stages

Regarding the enlargement of the Union, the minister proposed a gradual accession process, structured in intermediate phases that progressively bring candidate countries closer to the bloc before full entry. “I propose that, in the future, the path toward the admission of new members be structured as a phased process,” he explained, speaking of “enhanced gradual integration” as the road toward full membership.

And yet, Wadephul should know that in recent years even his government has pushed hard for the accelerated accession of Ukraine to the EU, in total disregard for the current “waiting list” made up of countries like Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and North Macedonia, just to name a few. Not to mention that since 2022, the EU has invested a “monstrous” amount of European taxpayers’ money into Ukraine, much more than what has been disbursed to EU countries like Malta, Lithuania, and Estonia, just to list other “best practices” of the European machine.

Institutions to be rethought

Wadephul also raised the issue of institutional efficiency in an enlarged Europe. A Union with 33, 34, or 35 members, he warned, “cannot simply continue to operate with the same approach designed for a much smaller group”. This is a paradox, considering that the German minister represents a nation that heavily influenced the European Troika during one of the Union’s darkest financial periods.

Continuing with his “strokes of genius,” Wadephul then questioned the principle of one commissioner per member state, proposing instead a leaner European Commission composed of commissioners totaling two-thirds of the member states. And thank goodness the goal wasn’t to have “a smaller group”.

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