Beyond Confederation: a wider and deeper Union
Fast-track entry into the EU for Ukraine will break the logjam over enlargement and force the pace of internal reform. For this to happen, the Commission and Council must decide to ditch the recently adopted accession process that gives any member state a unilateral veto. At least four other candidates can be brought in swiftly in the wake of Ukraine, with future reform programmes agreed post-accession. A more federal approach will give the Union the flexibility it needs to cope with increased diversity. Although a larger rewrite of the constitution would be preferable, only a few treaty amendments are required to allow a federal tier to step forward while eurosceptic members choose to stay back. An independent group of experts should be commissioned to draft these treaty changes.
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Andrew Duff is an Academic Fellow of the European Policy Centre. He is a former Member of the European Parliament (1999-2014), a Vice-President of the Liberal Democrats, Director of the Federal Trust, and President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF). He tweets @AndrewDuffEU and @andrewduffeu.bsky.social
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