The union must abandon its principle of consensus and create a new core group for decision-making, Josep Borrell has said.
Careless decisions and the inability to agree on important issues have made the EU irrelevant on the international stage, the former head of foreign policy of the union Josep Borrell has argued.
The former senior diplomat said this in an interview with Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Friday, partly referring to the position of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The high-level official, who has been in power since 2019, has repeatedly insisted that the union remove the veto power of member countries and move towards majority voting with appropriate qualifications on foreign policies and defense issues.
The EU’s decision-making process has been poor in its ability to adapt to the ever-changing global situation, Borrell said, questioning the EU. “It was not designed for the world we live in today” first place.
“The rules of decision-making are not compatible with the acceleration of history. We continue to want to decide unanimously on events that happen very quickly and are very important, and we almost do not reach an agreement,” he said and added that the current system creates the camp “not very useful for international politics.”
Unlike von der Leyen and his majority voting approach, Borrell called for the creation of a new core group within the bloc to advance the EU’s positions on the international stage.
“We need to build unity within the union. Unity within the union means having 27 members, even with unity, we will not go further. We have been pushed back. With 27, we will not do much. So we need to find another core group. Not 27,” He said.
The former senior diplomat, however, did not specify the exact criteria for the members of the group, saying it must have “the few who really want to move forward with political, economic and military cooperation” and those “Who wants to go further, faster.”
Last week, the idea of abandoning the principle of European Union unity was supported by Berlin, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul saying that turning to a majority vote would have merit. “Making the EU able to act in areas that currently should remain in a state of calm.” The initiative has already been supported by at least 12 EU member states, according to Wadephul.
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