The European Commission’s desire for treaty change to overcome the requirement for unanimity on foreign policy decisions is a dangerous trajectory that will limit the sovereignty of smaller EU member states, senior Polish MEP, Prof. Ryszard Legutko, has warned.
When asked about the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s recent remarks on the matter, Legutko responded by claiming the introduction of qualified majority voting to replace unanimity would hurt Central Europe and Poland.
“For us, it will be a limitation on our sovereignty, whereas for the larger states it will mean greater sovereignty,” Legutko warned.
“If it wasn’t enough that treaties are violated and misinterpreted, now they want to remove political power from some member states,” he added, expressing his concern about the direction in which the European Union was headed.
The professor also revealed his alarm about ideas such as giving the European Parliament the power to initiate legislation rather than just to consider that proposed by the European Commission, in addition to attempts to create a pool of seats for pan-European political groupings, and the attempt to make education and health, as well as social rights such as abortion, the competences of the EU rather than member states.
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“This is a nightmare scenario which must be prevented and reversed, so that the EU will have fewer powers and will be forced to respect the treaties on which it is based,” the MEP said.
Legutko says he thinks that large states and political groupings which have accepted the leftist agenda are now making their move to take over the European Union, and are annoyed by the conservative governments elected across Central Europe. This powerful left-liberal bloc is now seeking to limit their power with a radical overhaul of the EU.
Asked whether having 13 EU member states opposing treaty changes is a strong enough group within the union, Legutko argues that even such a coalition can all too easily be broken up by bullying and blackmail from the larger states, even if they are in a minority.
“Let’s remember that in EU politics we are no longer dealing with gentlemen but with brute force, demoralization and cynicism fueled by fanaticism and impunity for breaking the rules,” Legutko concluded.
