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Removing the veto in the EU, as a solution for faster expansion

Politiko 2023-06-04 21:09:03

At the time when the European Union says that "a new moment has been created for enlargement" after Ukraine and Moldova have received candidate status, while such status has been promised to Georgia, voices have been raised about the removal of the veto in the accession process. of decisions in the Council of the EU.

These proposals are justified by the fact that even now that the EU has 27 member states, it is proving that it is difficult to approve the decisions, while if other states are also accepted, it will become even more difficult.

Finally, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, has also joined the calls to remove the veto and switch to qualified majority voting for some issues of foreign policy and security.

Earlier, the president of France and many other high officials of the EU made similar calls. These proposals are also in line with the demands of the citizens of the European Union countries that were expressed during the so-called "Conference on the future of Europe".

Supporters of lifting the veto say the EU must first reform internally in order to be ready to expand. Others say that removing the veto would make the EU more functional, while its voice in the world would be more respected and influence would increase.

The European Union, currently, for each decision in the field of foreign policy and security, must make it by consensus. This has often led to decisions being blocked by some member state, even when all others were in favor.

Even in the process of imposing sanctions on Russia, there are often cases when some countries delay decisions or block them altogether. Hungary is most often cited as an example.

In this way, these sanctions become less efficient.

In the EU, currently, a qualified majority is required for about 80 percent of decisions, while the veto right is preserved for the rest, including in foreign and security policy, where the enlargement process also enters.
According to the majority decision formula qualified to pass a decision must vote in favor of at least 55 percent of member states (at least 15 EU member states) with the condition that they represent at least 65 percent of the population of the EU.

This means that four large countries, for example Germany, France and two others, can form the so-called "blocking minority" and block a decision even in cases where 23 countries can be in favor. This means that large countries have slightly more opportunities than small ones.

This is also the reason why many smaller member states are against lifting the veto, because they fear they might be outvoted.

But, in addition to the easier functioning of the EU, the removal of the veto would also be necessary to speed up the enlargement process. This is because in this process there have often been blockages from some member countries that have significantly affected the delays during the process.

Slovenia had blocked Croatia several times during the negotiation process due to bilateral disagreements.

Greqia me vite kishte mbajtur peng nisjen e negociatave të anëtarësimit me Maqedoninë e Veriut për shkak të emrit. Edhe pasi Shkupi arriti marrëveshje me Greqinë dhe e zgjidhi këtë problem, pengesa nisi të bëjë Bullgaria.

Nëse mbahet e drejta e vetos atëherë ata që hyjnë më herët në BE, do të mund t’i bllokojnë fqinjët e tyre. Kjo përmendet nga disa diplomatë edhe në rastin e Kosovës dhe Serbisë.

Edhe Parlamenti Evropian ka propozuar që në procesin e zgjerimit të vendoset me shumicë të kualifikuar e jo me konsensus. Por, për t’u hequr e drejta e vetos duhet të ndryshohen Traktatet themelore të Bashkimit Evropian. E, për ndryshimin e tyre secili vend anëtar mund ta përdorë veton. Pra, vendet e BE-së kanë të drejtë të vendosin veto për të bllokuar heqjen e vetos.

When it comes to the enlargement of the EU, diplomats in Brussels say that it is not realistic in the future to expect the removal of the veto in its entirety, but that it would be good to remove it for most of the technical steps in the process./ REL