A group of 11 EU countries has joined forces to demand an end to the use of the veto, which in recent years has paralysed the bloc’s foreign policy.
Diplomats sent a corresponding letter to the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas and other member states, Euronews reports.
The initiative was launched by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden. They stress that the pursuit of consensus must not stand in the way of joint EU action amid growing global instability.
At present, EU foreign policy decisions are taken only unanimously, meaning a single country can block the will of the other 26 members. A striking example for a long time was Hungary’s former prime minister Viktor Orbán, who regularly used the veto. In particular, he blocked a €90bn loan for Ukraine amid a dispute over the Druzhba oil pipeline.
To remedy the situation, the signatories propose five principles: uphold mutual solidarity; make more frequent use of constructive abstention instead of a veto; avoid linking foreign policy decisions to unrelated issues; require well-founded reasons for blocking decisions; and gradually move towards qualified majority voting.
There is a legal mechanism for such a shift under Article 31 of the Treaty on European Union — the so-called “passerelle clause”. It allows the voting format to be changed on a case-by-case basis.
Supporters of the reform say it would speed up decision-making. At the same time, the Baltic states did not back the initiative, as smaller countries see the veto as an important tool for protecting their own interests from the influence of larger members of the bloc. The main obstacle to reform remains that the move from unanimity to majority voting itself also requires the agreement of absolutely all EU countries.
Countries are seeking to implement the reform now because they see a window of opportunity after the change of power in Hungary and ahead of France’s next presidential election. In addition, Germany and France have proposed strengthening Kaja Kallas’s role by placing her portfolio directly under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.