this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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Europe

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago

I think there's some confusion about how the "veto" works. The EU uses many ways to reach decisions, and those ways are different depending on the type of topic. Some are decided by majority, some by unanimity.

The topics that require unanimity are the ones that would make no sense otherwise, since the EU doesn't have the ability to coerce a member state into doing things it doesn't want to do, beyond withholding funds and other soft measures like that.

This reevaluation will switch some things from the unanimity principle to qualified majority.

It's important to remember that the EU is a built on the willingness of its members to cooperate and participate. It tries to use the carrot almost exclusively, not the stick. So far this has worked out amazingly well considering the previous century for example. The countries that have joined the EU have cooperated and prospered. The ones that wanted to cooperate without outright joining have been able to do so (Norway, Switzerland, Greenland). The ones that changed their mind could leave (UK). The ones that couldn't bring themselves to agree with its values have never joined.