The Trump administration's most influential think tank, The Heritage Foundation, is receiving proposals from illiberal forces in Poland and Hungary on how to shape the future of the European Union. The proposals, obtained by VSquare, include dismantling key EU institutions and renaming the entire bl...
Project 2025 authors are providing a closed-door workshop of discussion for right-wing groups in Europe to shape their united stand against the EU. We don't know the invitation-list, but as Yorkshirebylines reports on this:
"It is known to have featured contributions from two prominent right-wing organisations: Hungary’s largest private educational institution with a Brussels-based thinktank, Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), and the Polish Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture.
All three groups present are highly connected to the political leadership of their respective countries, and they all have something in common: a firm belief in reducing the role of government, controlling the judiciary and installing a conservative religious approach in terms of access to reproductive healthcare for women, divorce and same-sex marriage."
Obtained invitation that goes over the proposals talked about:
VSquare mainly focus on preventing a rise in populism in Europe and report a lot on Turkey and Hungary, about Russian influence, and as we can see here, about American right's attempt at influence. According to themselves, they are Polish, and operate as a collaborative non-profit investigative journalist center.
"the two Central European organizations reported connections to Russian influence add another layer of scrutiny. While Ordo Iuris leaders have denied pro-Russian affiliations, the organization has long engaged with networks that promote Kremlin-aligned narratives, including Agenda Europe and the World Congress of Families – a group linked to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev. (VSquare has published multiple investigations into the international network-building of Ordo Iuris," VSquare adds with links on the page leading to their investigations)
What began as a vision of free trade and peaceful coexistence has morphed into an institution shaping nearly all aspects of governance in Europe, centralizing power at the expense of national sovereignty.
The European Coal and Steel Community was the first step on what became the European Union, not the initial vision for its end state.
I am now going to say something that will astonish you. The first step in the recreation of the European Family must be a partnership between France and Germany. In this way only can France recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe. There can be no revival of Europe without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany. The structure of the United States of Europe, if well and truly built, will be such as to make the material strength of a single state less important. Small nations will count as much as large ones and gain their honour by their contribution to the common cause. The ancient states and principalities of Germany, freely joined together for mutual convenience in a federal system, might take their individual places among the United States of Europe.
I must now sum up the propositions which are before you. Our constant aim must be to build
and fortify the strength of the United Nations Organization. Under and within that world concept we must recreate the European Family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe. And the first practical step would be to form a Council of Europe. If at first all the States of Europe are not willing or able to join the Union, we must nevertheless proceed to assemble and combine those who will and those who can. The salvation of the common people of every race and of every land from war or servitude must be established on solid foundations and must be guarded by the readiness of all men and women to die rather than submit to tyranny. In all this urgent work, France and Germany must take the lead together. Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America and I trust Soviet Russia-for then indeed
all would be well-must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe and must champion its right to live and shine. Therefore I say to you: let Europe arise!»
---- Winston Churchill, Zurich, September 19, 1946
Churchill was talking about a federal system analogous to the United States of America back in 1946.
Europe as an American I’m telling you that this isn’t what you want. It’s bad over here. Seriously please stop the facists. This is seriously what our dear leader posted on Easter.
Yeah, I operate on this assumption entirely. I’m pretty sure there was a book published about this idea in the 80s and it was widely read among political leadership.
They've been working on it for 20 years and now have been successful in the US. They've been working on Europe and Canada for at least 10 years as well.
Anyone notice how the population of religious people globally is falling at a rapid rate, but the power being amassed by religious communities and officials continues to appear unassailable from within liberal-ish institutions?
It's almost as though the promise of liberal democracy and secularization is being renegged upon as soon as it inconveniences old bourgeois institutions. Damn shame there's no group of 19th century intellectuals and revolutionaries who could have warned us about this. Oh well... I'm sure this will be fine.
Enjoy another 30 Years War, Europe. You've earned it.
Are the suggestions bad on their own, or only because they are a tool to achieve other goals?
Personally I think that the EU should not become a unified country. The proposal is halting the process and setting boundaries so that the countries continue to exist.
I think that's a pretty fair question, especially as I am kinda globalist (or at least see majority EU cooperation and correcting itself as a net-good)
if we take aside potential hoping-to-weaken-EU Russian involvement, and a lot of its de-legitimizing language, my very first concern would be making it harder to enforce common standards for instance to prevent democratic backsliding, as I see European democracy as being the best tool currently for results that both allow experts to weigh in and for the nuance of public concerns that spontaneously emerge, even if we all can argue that it will always need improvement to a lot of people.
Heightened unanimity requirements hold a lot of the union hostage, when it in general would be nice to be on the same page, but I understand it also shouldn't be so low as 60%, I would argue that current standard or maybe a tinge less is fair in that it tells you that most everyone is on-board with a decision (simplifying a lot of how the people making the final decision got in power of course, where there are maybe half of their citizens who could still oppose whatever they voted for)
So far this has helped a lot in human rights protection within the EU, collective bargaining power with the outside, enforcing a climate policy which pretty much requires everybody to step up, and like, other things that in the short-term can make for instance authoritarians be very popular at the cost of the long-term.