German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in his EU reform plan that the bloc needs to speed up its foreign policy decision-making. To do that, he argued, the principle of unanimity should be replaced with qualified majority voting.
How the current system works
At present, decisions in the EU’s foreign and security policy areas require the consent of all 27 member states. Each country has the right to veto a decision.
According to Wadephul, that principle could endanger Europe’s very existence. As an example, he recalled that EU countries were unable for a long time to approve a $90 billion loan to Ukraine because the Hungarian government led by Viktor Orban was blocking the initiative.
What the minister wants to change
Germany’s top diplomat believes that decisions on security and foreign policy should be adopted with the approval of a qualified majority. He stressed that countries that do not want to or cannot take part in decision-making should not obstruct the others.
Qualified majority is the main decision-making mechanism in the Council of the EU. It requires the backing of at least 55% of member states, meaning a minimum of 15 countries, representing at least 65% of the EU population. This mechanism is already used in some foreign policy matters, as well as in trade, agriculture, environmental policy, and justice.
EU enlargement and the reform debate
Wadephul also proposed changing the procedure for admitting new EU members by making it gradual. In his view, states should undergo step-by-step integration into the bloc up to full membership. He said such an approach would help prevent blocking decisions by the governments of member states.
The minister noted that a number of countries are currently on the path toward joining the EU, including states on the Balkan Peninsula, Ukraine, and Moldova. He also described the accession of Iceland and Norway to the European Union as “more than welcome.”
Debate over EU reform has been going on for years. In the autumn of 2024, former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi proposed “restarting” the EU economy through multi-million investments, arguing that Europe had begun to fall significantly behind the United States and China. He also called for cutting bureaucracy in the EU and acting more cohesively as a single economy. In Draghi’s view, one of the reasons for the EU’s economic slowdown is its lengthy decision-making process.