The European Parliament voted in favour of a bill to implement a number of reforms to the bloc’s treaties, including an almost absolute abolition of the principle of unanimity, in other words, member states’ veto power. The vote passed with a razor-thin majority of 291 votes in favour to 274…
  • magnetosphere@kbin.social
    3·
    1 year ago

    Did the veto only exist in the first place because it was necessary to sell the concept of the EU? Telling governments “don’t worry, you’ll be able to veto anything” sounds like an argument you’d need in order to get skeptical countries to join when the EU was new and untested.

    In practice, the veto seems like a terrible idea. Any stubborn, selfish head of state can blackmail the entire EU by threatening to veto an important measure.

    Now, the EU has proven itself, plus, member states have seen the perils and costs of leaving. There’s much less need to accommodate those who refuse to act in good faith. Getting rid of the veto is an excellent idea.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I think there’s some confusion about how the “veto” works. The EU uses many ways to reach decisions, and those ways are different depending on the type of topic. Some are decided by majority, some by unanimity.

      The topics that require unanimity are the ones that would make no sense otherwise, since the EU doesn’t have the ability to coerce a member state into doing things it doesn’t want to do, beyond withholding funds and other soft measures like that.

      This reevaluation will switch some things from the unanimity principle to qualified majority.

      It’s important to remember that the EU is a built on the willingness of its members to cooperate and participate. It tries to use the carrot almost exclusively, not the stick. So far this has worked out amazingly well considering the previous century for example. The countries that have joined the EU have cooperated and prospered. The ones that wanted to cooperate without outright joining have been able to do so (Norway, Switzerland, Greenland). The ones that changed their mind could leave (UK). The ones that couldn’t bring themselves to agree with its values have never joined.