The future of the EU

As a reluctant citizen of the European Union I care about its future. A Eurobarometer showed that 80% of Irish citizens wish to remain in the EU and only 10% wish to leave it. That is the highest level of support for EU membership amongst the 27 member states. I could of course renounce Irish and therefore European Citizenship. But that would be wrong since I am Irish whether or not I am also an EU citizen. I can only help bring the Republic of Ireland out of the EU if I remain a citizen. However, it is improbable that Eirxit shall ever transpire. That being so I must address my mind to how to ameliorate the EU.

 The EU is by no means all bad. Hundreds of millions of people wish to belong to it for good reasons. As the Republic of Ireland has to bear the burden of bad EU policies it is only right that the State also enjoy some of the benefits of EU membership. The question is how the EU can be made more efficient at its mission? How can it deliver peace, prosperity, democracy and human rights all to a higher standard?

With the United Kingdom out of the EU deeper integration is very possible. The EU was always foot dragging. Brexit could be a golden opportunity for the European Union. 

The EU allows a single member state to veto certain decisions such as sanctions. This gives too much power to member states. If the EU is to work smoothly then it needs a stronger centre. Therefore, the right of veto needs to be restricted. It should take at least two member states to veto things. At the moment Malta with 500 000 people can veto a decision by 500 million people. In fairness, there is never unanimity among all the people of the other 26 member states. But nonetheless it is a preposterous scenario. Perhaps the rule should be that the vetoing states need a population that adds up to at least 10% of the EU population. Therefore, German and Cyprus combined would be able to veto something for instance. Germany has well over 10% of the population plus it would need another state on its side. 

Hungary would have vetoed sanctions on Russia if it were not granted exemptions. Some people applaud Obran Viktor for what he did. 

The EU should not be shy about expelling recalcitrant states. Hungary might be an example.

The veto over new states joining should probably be abolished too. 

North Macedonia has been a candidate member for 17 years. It has resolved its differences with Greece by taking the prefix ‘North’. Bulgaria is now blocking North Macedonia’s path. Bulgaria says there is no Macedonian language: it is Bulgarian. Very few North Macedonians want to unite with Bulgaria. North Macedonia is in most ways ready to join. It has under 3 million people and would not lead to too much migration. 

Albania has tied its membership to North Macedonia’s. There is no need to do this. Albania was once a basket case but has come on leaps and bounds. Nonetheless, there remain significant problems there. But perhaps letting them join the EU now is desirable as it would prove to Ukraine that it too will join the EU one day. Albania has a small population and therefore migration West would be manageable. 

The EU granted candidate membership to Ukraine and Moldova. Therefore, Russia is failing in its war aims. As it was plain that the EU would do this Putin said he did not care and Ukraine is an independent country and they can do what they like there. His war against Ukraine is predicated on the precise opposite contention! As Ukrainians have the right to do what they like in their country then Putin should stop complaining about Ukrainian language policy and its application to join NATO. 

To give hope to Ukraine and Moldova the EU ought to let another country in. This would prove that candidate members will not be left waiting for decades. 

Turkey should no longer be a candidate member. It has been one since 1987! Its economy had improved enormously. But its democracy has disimproved. 

The EU has its own defence identity. It should call its rapid reaction force what it is: an army. Each EU member state should be obliged to put at least, say, 10% of its forces under EU command. The troops would take an oath to the EU. If there were any dispute between the member state and the EU the soldier would have to bear supreme allegiance to the EU. 

For decades EU countries have underspent on their military. They relied on Uncle Sam to bail them out. These countries spent a lot on welfare, education, healthcare and so forth. But this was only affordable because they neglected defence. One of the few wise things Trump ever said was that the United States was not going to give NATO EU countries a free ride. 

Some EU states are in NATO and some are not. Therefore, the foreign policy is incoherent. Some sent troops to Iraq and others did not. The European Union needs to sort this out. It must speak with one voice if it is to be a force in world affairs.

There is a lot of peculation and corruption in the EU to be rooted out. The EU squanders staggering sums on vanity projects and on charity to other countries. The EU needs to stop moving between Brussels and Strasbourg. Its officials and politicians are overpaid. The EU needs to be put on a diet. Legislative hyperactivity also strangles trade and degrades liberty. 

The EU must remember the deficiencies and delinquencies of the EU that caused Brexit. Brussels needs to put its house in order lest another member state leave. It looks unlikely that another country shall leave soon. 

Some member state sell citizenship – er, sorry, give it out to investors. The EU needs to limit this and insist that they only sell passports for over a million Euros. Otherwise a poor EU country like Romania could sell millions of passports for a few thousand Euros each. As a Romanian Passport is also a European Passport then some of the money should go directly to the EU.