The EU is discussing the abolition of the unanimity principle in foreign and security policy. The trigger is the repeated blocking of decisions by individual Member States, most recently regarding the planned Ukraine loan of around 90 billion euros. In future, such decisions are to be taken by majority vote in order to increase the EU’s ability to act. At the same time, political developments in Hungary are shifting the balance of power, as a key critic of this approach could disappear.
On this, AfD Member of the European Parliament Alexander Sell, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), stated:
“What is being prepared here is a far-reaching restructuring of European foreign policy at the expense of the nation states. The principle of unanimity ensures that every country can safeguard its interests in matters of war, peace and international obligations. If this principle is abolished, states such as Germany could in future be forced into foreign policy decisions and multibillion-euro programmes without being able to defend themselves effectively.
With the political shift in Hungary, the disappearance of one of the last countries that has opposed ever more aid to Ukraine is now becoming a real possibility. This significantly increases the likelihood that the 90-billion-euro loan and further financial packages will simply be waved through.
At the same time, this development opens the door to a common debt policy and, in the long term, to eurobonds, likewise without unanimity. The EU is thus increasingly developing into a centralised foreign policy actor that overrides national interests. This means less control by the Member States and a further detachment from the citizens.”
