The Russian invasion of Ukraine accelerates a transformation in the European Union (EU)a bloc that celebrates its 72nd anniversary on Monday at a time when it seeks to consolidate itself as a global player, European analysts and officials point out.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of Germany declared on Friday that the war in Ukraine “fundamentally challenges our peace architecture.”
The EU celebrates the 72nd anniversary of its founding actRobert Schumann’s statement proposing the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community on May 9, 1950.
Founded 72 years ago as a trade bloc made up of countries that were at war just a few years earlier, the EU has become a political power supporting Ukraine with arms and pushing unprecedented sanctions against Russia.
However, analysts point out that it still has a long way to go to become a strategic and autonomous heavyweight, as the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, wishes.
“For Europe to become a geopolitical actor, requires more than some political fixes or institutional arrangements,” said Luuk van Middelaar, a Dutch political theorist who was part of the cabinet of former European Council President Herman Van Rumpuy.
For Van Middelaar, the EU “crossed the Rubicon” by deciding to finance 1.5 billion euros (about 1.6 billion dollars) in the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, in a surprising turn of its pacifist history.
However, it still has an ill-defined common strategy towards its close neighbors, be it Russia or the “gray area of countries” it aspires to join, including Ukraine, the expert said.
pragmatic federalism
Fabian Zuleeg, director of the Center for European Policy, told AFP that “we are at a crossroads, that for me is unquestionable.” When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, “everything changed,” he noted.
“Many taboos have fallen and countries are doing things they never thought they would do,” Zuleeg said.
This affects the EU’s foreign and security policy, but also agriculture, migration and industrial policy.
“We can take advantage of this situation to provide the European Union with the kind of decisions, powers and laws it needs, or follow the path of countries that do things on their own, which I think is doomed to failure,” he said.
In a speech before the European Parliament, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi defended a “pragmatic federalism”, in which member states lose their ability to veto decisions agreed by a large majority.
If a review of the founding treaties becomes necessary for this, it must be faced with “courage and confidence,” he said.
Abandonment of vetoes?
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in support of a revision of the EU treaties, in support of over 300 recommended changes formulated by the citizen consultation of the Conference on the Future of Europe, drawn up in 49 proposals.
One idea is qualified majority voting on decisions, proposed by Macron and Draghi, to speed up decision-making.
Another proposal is to give more powers to the European Commission in areas closely guarded by national governments, such as defense.
EU officials said the list of proposals, due to be formally handed over to Macron on Monday, will be scrutinized but it is premature to say whether any of them will require a revision of the treaties.
One European diplomat estimated that “more than 90% of the proposals can be implemented below the threshold of changes” in the treaties.
If a majority of EU member states decide that the treaty needs to be changed, they can vote in the European Council to launch a “convention” leading to negotiations.
Attempts have been made before to reform the EU, not always with success.
In 1992, Danish voters rejected the Maastricht Treaty, the founding text of the modern EU, although they adopted it a year later after negotiating exit options, and in 2005 France and the Netherlands buried the idea of a Constitution of the European Union. EU.