There has never been a better time to push for European integration. With pro-European governments in France, Italy and Germany, reform of the bloc seems to be within reach – for the first time in years.
The shift is especially visible in Germany, where the incoming coalition has probably put forward the most ambitious plan for European integration the bloc has ever seen.
The commitment to the European Union runs like a leitmotif through the coalition agreement, with 98 of its 177 pages making at least some reference to the EU.
One particular sentence in the agreement has made many hearts in the Brussels Bubble leap for joy: The next German government is pushing to develop the EU into a “European federal state.”
The precondition for a reform of the EU is, of course, that the Franco-German engine does not run out of steam.
In 2017, Emmanuel Macron had already called on Germany to help “reinvent the EU” and laid out an ambitious reform plan for the bloc.
Germany did not respond adequately to his proposals, as it was caught in difficult government-building talks at the time, and Angela Merkel failed to convince her party to answer Macron’s call for EU reform.
This time around, the roles seem to be reversed: It was Germany who launched the call for reform and Macron has yet to answer.
That may not be so surprising. French voters will head to the polls in April to decide who will rule the country in the coming term and Macron is busy preparing for the upcoming election campaign. European topics do not usually rank high on the list of the issues discussed in French election campaigns.
However, this time around, the election coincides with the French Presidency of the EU Council, hopefully giving EU reform more visibility in the election debates.
In any case, leaders will have to act quickly as the timeframe that makes a reform of the EU possible might be short.
Italians will also head to the polls in 2023. As things stand right now, the right-wing and EU-sceptic Brothers of Italy and Lega are the most likely candidates to gain a favourable result.
Therefore, the reform process must start while Mario Draghi – probably the most pro-European Italian prime minister in decades – is still in office, to ensure that the EU’s third-biggest member state is on board with the reform process. That would also be in line with the recent Franco-Italian treaty that seeks to boost their cooperation.
At the end of the day, if Germany, France, and Italy are pulling on the same rope, who can really stop a reform process that will reshape the European Union?
Critics will, of course, point out that it is impossible to reach an agreement between 27 member states – most of them with completely different visions of what a future Union should look like.
However, who says that everybody must be on board for such a reform process?
France has long been in favour of a “multi-speed-Europe.” While the last German government was hesitant to support the further integration of only a handful of member states, such a trajectory might be more feasible now.
If the founding counties of the European Union guide the way, it might just be enough to get one step closer to the promise of the German coalition agreement: to develop the EU into a European federal state.
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Look out for…
- Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson take part in the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs, 2-3 December.
- Values and Transparency Commissioner Vĕra Jourová speaks at the 11th Annual European Data Protection and Privacy Conference.
- 147th Committee of the Regions plenary session.
Views are the author’s.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/ Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
