Brussels pushing to silence dissent among EU members
Von der Leyen urges EU to drop vetoes on foreign policy
(about 4 hours later)
The European Commission wants to scrap unanimous voting on the bloc’s foreign policy decisions
The European Commission wants to scrap unanimous voting on the bloc’s foreign policy decisions
The European Commission has announced plans to scrap consensus-based decision-making in EU foreign policy, in a step that could sideline member states resisting Brussels’ line.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for scrapping unanimity in the EU’s foreign policy decision-making, insisting the bloc must be able to act more quickly on sanctions, military aid, and other measures.
Brussels has long weighed replacing unanimity – a founding principle of EU foreign policy – with majority voting, arguing the change would speed up decisions and stop individual states from blocking measures such as sanctions and military aid for Ukraine. Under the current system, all 27 members must agree for decisions to pass. The proposed reform would require a qualified majority, meaning decisions would be adopted if backed by a set threshold of states.
In her annual state of the union address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, von der Leyen said it was time to “break free from the shackles of unanimity” and move towards qualified majority voting in some areas of foreign policy.
In her ‘state of the union’ address on Wednesday, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was time to “break free from the shackles of unanimity,” and insisted that the bloc act “faster.”
Under the current system, all 27 member states must agree for decisions to pass. Von der Leyen argued that this has slowed the EU’s response to crises and said majority voting would stop individual governments from holding up action backed by the rest.
“I believe that we need to move to qualified majority in some areas, for example in foreign policy,” she stated.
Her remarks drew immediate opposition from Slovakia and Hungary, both of which have threatened to use their vetoes to block policies they see as harmful to national interests. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that removing the veto would “spell the end of the bloc” and could even be “the precursor of a huge military conflict.”
The EC chief, who has repeatedly invoked the “Russian threat” to justify military aid to Ukraine, sanctions, and the push for accelerated militarization, was met with opposition from Slovakia and Hungary. Both governments have repeatedly threatened to use their veto powers to block EU actions they view as harmful to their national interests.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban dismissed the Brussels push as the work of “bureaucrats” and said abandoning consensus would undermine sovereignty, potentially dragging member states into wars against their will. He predicted the EU would not survive another decade without structural reform and disentanglement from the war in Ukraine.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has warned that removing members’ veto power on foreign policy would spell the end of the bloc and could be “the precursor of a huge military conflict.”
Moscow, meanwhile, accused Western leaders of “fearmongering” about a Russian threat to justify military spending and said EU moves to centralize foreign policy decision-making only prolonged the conflict by ensuring continued aid to Kiev.
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban has dismissed officials in Brussels as “bureaucrats” and argued that abandoning consensus would undermine national sovereignty, as member states could be dragged into wars without their consent. Orban said the EU is on the verge of collapse and will not survive beyond the next decade without a “fundamental structural overhaul” and disentanglement from the Ukraine conflict.
Moscow has accused the West of pursuing “uncontrolled militarization” to prepare for war with Russia, while dismissing claims it intends to attack NATO or EU states as “nonsense.” Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have accused Western leaders of fearmongering to justify inflated military budgets and to cover up their economic failures, insisting that aid to Kiev only prolongs the hostilities.
