Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), Europe faces immense challenges. Europe and everything that we stand for are increasingly under pressure, from outside of the Union as well as from within. War has returned to our continent and conflicts are flaring up around the Union. Great powers such as China promote interests and values worldwide that are diametrically opposed to ours. In several Member States, such as Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, anti-democratic forces are trampling on our values and undermining our joint decision-making.
Will individual Member States be able to solve these challenges alone and to guarantee the security of our citizens? Only a united Europe has the strength to provide solutions, whether it be for our security, defense, migration, climate or industry. The answer to the challenges of today is a more united, stronger, and reformed Europe in the near future.
The current major challenges all have a common denominator: they threaten the safety and security of our citizens. First, defense and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, are the most fundamental challenges to our values. Our response started promisingly. For the first time, we supplied weapons with financing on the EU level. We sanctioned responsible Russians and provided large-scale financial support to Ukraine. However, the war has now gravely exposed the weak spot of our European defense: our fragmented defense industry. Member States have spent a record amount of 240 billion euros on defense in 2022, three times as much as Russia. But only 18% of our purchases are procured jointly, resulting in a fatally weakened defense industry. The Member States produce seventeen types of tanks, compared to one type in the US. We can no longer afford this fragmentation.
Because with Russia’s war and the looming return of Trump to the White House, we must take our security in our own hands. This means that we should cooperate in a defense union, with a single defense market in which the member states jointly purchase military resources. This will not only make us stronger but will also save one-third of the costs. One European Commissioner for Defence must, among other things, strategically coordinate defense purchases. This cooperation must ultimately lead to a credible European army. That is also what a majority of European citizens want, as they made clear during the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Security is also about combating irregular migration. Do not let yourself be fooled by nationalists who promise to provide national solutions by ‘‘simply’’ closing the borders. Only a European Union that speaks and acts with one voice can render migration and asylum controllable, humane, and manageable. With the recently adopted European asylum and migration pact, we are finally moving towards one European migration policy and one uniform asylum application. Through stricter and faster external border controls and accelerated asylum procedures, we will protect our external borders and curb illegal migration.
This new legislation is a crucial first step, but we must go beyond this. United as one European bloc, we must prevent refugee flows by concluding migration deals and readmission agreements with countries of origin and transit, as Prime Minister De Croo has done in Egypt. By improving the conditions and economic opportunities in those countries, we will diminish the root causes of migration and break the revenue model of human smugglers. As President of the Council of the EU, Belgium can strike such effective deals precisely because it speaks on behalf of all 27 Member States.
The current world order also forces us to regard the economy from a geopolitical and economic security perspective, focusing on the security of supply and the competitiveness of our industry and companies. We need to significantly reduce our dependencies on essential goods and technologies for the green and digital transitions. For example, we are dependent on 97% of our lithium demand from China, which is crucial for batteries, electric cars, and solar panels. Undoubtedly, some parties on the extreme right and left do not see this as an issue, but China and Russia will use our dependencies against us with disastrous economic consequences. We must intensify our partnerships with countries that possess many critical raw materials. The European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of 27 member states, will strike the best deals.
We also need to produce more essential goods in Europe and support strategic sectors with one European industrial policy. Only Europe has the scale to do so, with one European industrial fund and an Industrial Deal that also guarantees a level playing field. Only Europe can protect our companies in the face of unfair competition and trade practices or outright economic blackmail, such as from China towards Lithuania of 2.8 million inhabitants. The Union with its 450 million inhabitants does have sufficient economic weight to provide a deterrent to instruments against unfair subsidies and economic coercion.
To all these challenges, Europe can only provide solutions if we are united. That simple fact is too often abused by anti-Europeans such as Viktor Orbán. The unanimity rule allows him to hold our sanctions and support for Ukraine hostage. Due to these and other weaknesses of our institutions, we fall behind far too often. The Maastricht Treaty that led to the formation of the Union was negotiated in 1992. Now that the world is changing rapidly, the Union must also change.
This means that we must abolish the crippling unanimity rule, in every policy area. Only in this way can we make progress on important files and can we prevent one Member State from holding back the 26 others. We must work towards one European Minister of Foreign Affairs who speaks with one voice on the international stage. And we must work towards one European army to defend our citizens.
If we want to put our citizens first, we have to put Europe first. Let us therefore give the European Union the means to tackle these challenges effectively. Because in this rapidly changing world, a stronger Europe stands for progress, prosperity, and security. This is what the upcoming European elections will be about. Will we continue to muddle along as the nationalists want? Or will we move towards a stronger, united, and reformed Europe that offers solutions for our citizens? With full conviction and determination, I choose the latter.
Opinions expressed in the op-ed section are solely those of the individual author and do not represent the official stance of our newspaper. We believe in providing a platform for a wide range of voices and perspectives, even those that may challenge or differ from our own. As always, we remain committed to providing our readers with high-quality, fair, and balanced journalism. Thank you for your continued support.Sincerely, The Brussels Morning Team
