Switch from unanimity principle to majority vote
The current mode in EU is unanimity principle for a lot of the decisions, which means a single member can block a lot of things. This usually leads to backroom deals, where the blocker gets a side deal, which waters down a lot of ideas. There are quite a few of those “exceptional” EU members, e.g. Hungary and Ireland.
Suggested solution: switch to a majority vote. Don’t like it? Just leave.
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Comments2
Cyan Snake
Dec 16, 2024
Yes I’m aware of the delicate balance between representation and efficiency. The sister issue is the actual representation of EU citizens in the EU parliament. Malta sends 1 member of EU parliament for every 83k citizens, Germany one for every 867k citizens. I.e. the weight of a Maltese vote is 10x that of a German vote.
OTOH the EU probably would not work if small member states were represented proportionally.
Azure Leaf
Dec 16, 2024
It’s not a bad idea but it still creates a lot of friction that doesn’t exist in presidential systems.
It’s definitely more stable than a federation with regional vetoes but it doesn’t fully address overton misalignments in member states.
You will have situations like Catalonia feeling misrepresented but outvoted on the Spanish federal level or Scotland.
Regional parties will keep emphasizing the things that are different from the rest and foster regional identities (us vs. them).
Wrote about it here:
https://noverloop.substack.com/p/overton-deadlock