Member states should work on economic matters in small groups in the absence of unanimity, the European Commission president has said
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for a mechanism that would further water down the European Union unanimity requirement – a key pillar underpinning the bloc. She suggested that like-minded member states should be able to work on economic matters in small groups in the absence of EU-wide consent.
In recent months, the EU has already increasingly relied on a clause that allows for decisions to be made with approval from 15 of its 27 member states. The workaround has been used to bypass opposition from some countries on key issues, such as imports of Russian energy and the appropriation of frozen Russian assets. Some nations, including Hungary and Slovakia, have denounced the practice as an unacceptable overreach by Brussels into sovereign matters.
In a letter addressed to EU leaders on Monday, Von der Leyen wrote that “our ambition should always be to reach agreement among all 27 member states,” as quoted by several media outlets.
“However, where a lack of progress or ambition risks undermining Europe’s competitiveness or capacity to act, we should not shy away from using the possibilities foreseen in the treaties on enhanced cooperation,” the commission president reportedly said.
Von der Leyen was referring to an instrument devised in 1997, which allows a minimum of nine member states to team up, circumventing the EU’s unanimity requirement.
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