The majority vote could first be implemented in fields “where it is particularly crucial that Europe speaks with one voice”, according to the German Chancellor.
Le Monde with Reuters
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, estimated, Monday, August 29, that the European Union (EU) should gradually move from the rule of unanimity to that of the majority in the fields of taxation and foreign affairs , an essential development with a view to widening the block to new members.
In a speech entitled “Europe is our future”, pronounced on Monday in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, Olaf Scholz reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to the enlargement of the EU, stressing that country of the Western Balkans, but also Ukraine and Moldova as well as Georgia, in the long term, were intended to join the EU.
m. Scholz went so far as to mention “a European Union of 30 or 36 states”, well “different from our current union”. “The center of Europe moves east,” he said.
progressive transition
However, “in this enlarged union, the differences between the member states will increase with regard to political interests, economic influence and social security systems”, observed the German Chancellor. “While unanimity is required today, the risk that a single Member State uses its veto and prevents all others from going forward increases with each new entering the block,” he underlined.
“I therefore proposed a progressive transition to a majority vote for the common foreign affairs policy, but also in other areas, such as tax policy – knowing that such an evolution will not be Without consequences for Germany, “said Olaf Scholz.
For him, “stick to the principle of unanimity only works until the pressure to act is low. But this is no longer the case in view of the change of time” caused, according to him, by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The majority vote could first be implemented in fields, “where it is particularly crucial that Europe speaks with one voice”, such as decisions about sanctions or rights related to rights humans.
Olaf Scholz also reaffirmed his support for the proposal of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to create a “European political community” which would allow “a regular exchange at political level” between EU leaders and their “European partners”.
Within this new forum, “we would discuss central themes once or twice a year that concern our continent as a whole: safety, energy, climate or connectivity,” said the German Chancellor .