Ane Barcos
Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Sweden have sent a joint letter to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, proposing a review of the foreign policy decision-making system and a move towards greater use of qualified majority voting.
In the letter, the eleven member states argue for the need to adapt the EU Council’s decision-making process to strengthen the bloc’s capacity to act internationally. According to Euronews, the signatories state that “the Union’s ability to defend its values and interests depends on whether it can mobilize its collective political, economic, and diplomatic weight quickly and effectively.”
The letter acknowledges that “the Union’s culture of consensus is an important source of its legitimacy” and affirms that member states will continue “striving to reach consensus wherever possible.” However, the signatory countries consider it necessary to ensure that “this culture of consensus fosters common action rather than hindering it.”
Currently, EU foreign policy is governed by unanimity, which allows a single member state to block a decision supported by the rest. The eleven governments propose exploring the possibilities provided for in the European treaties to move, in certain areas, from unanimity to qualified majority voting.
The debate on this reform has gained traction in Brussels following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in light of the future enlargement of the European Union. High Representative Kaja Kallas and the President of the European Council, António Costa, have advocated for a review of the bloc’s foreign policy decision-making mechanisms.
In recent years, several European governments have pointed to the gridlock caused by the use of the national veto. Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán repeatedly used this tool to influence decisions related to Ukraine, including the approval of a €90 billion European loan.
The letter warns that European foreign policy is developing in a context marked by “strategic competition, growing instability, and attempts to undermine the rules-based international order.” The signatories believe the EU needs to strengthen its capacity to adopt common positions in the face of these scenarios.
The document proposes five lines of action: strengthening “genuine cooperation and mutual solidarity,” expanding the use of constructive abstentions instead of vetoes, preventing extraneous issues from influencing foreign policy decisions, exploring options for applying the qualified majority provided for in the treaties, and requiring “vital, well-founded reasons” when a state attempts to block a measure.
The eleven countries maintain that “the legal framework for the five principles is already in place” and that “it is solely up to us to implement them and, in doing so, advance our foreign policy.”
