Draghi wants ‘realistic federalism’ in Europe

The Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, presented his views on the future of Europe and the war in Ukraine in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament.

In the wake of the pandemic and the threat of an energy and inflation crisis, more and more European leaders are saying that the current EU structures are not enough. But the “United States of Europe” remains taboo after the fiasco of the European Constitution in 2005, and even a limited-scale change to the European Treaties is considered a difficult affair with the current balance of power.

Speaking at the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented his own proposal: “Realistic federalism” is needed in Europe, he said. What does this mean; “It means that only together we can do it,” he explained in his deuterology. “And I do not mean just to fund, but also to implement together.” In this context, “we must start a process that will lead to a reform of the Treaties and embrace this with courage and confidence,” Draghi said, adding that it was important to “abolish the principle of unanimity, which leads to cross-veto “and blocks EU decision-making.

From Suez to the euro crisis

The encouraging thing, the Italian prime minister points out, is that Europe has always been going through crises to take the next step. He recalled that the Suez Crisis in 1956 had accelerated the procedures for the signing of the EEC Treaty in Rome in 1957, while “the eurozone crisis brought about the strengthening and modernization of institutions, starting with the European Central Bank. (ECB) “. The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and the head of the K.O. of the European Socialists Irache Garcia Perez praised Draghi’s role as head of the ECB during the euro crisis and especially the famous “whatever it takes”, which is believed to have played a decisive role in efforts to neutralize speculative moves against Greece and Italy , but also of the eurozone as a whole. On the contrary, the leader of the European Left, Martin Sirdevan, expressed strong criticism of the ECB’s policy towards Greece and Italy during the Euro-crisis in Strasbourg, saying that “whatever it takes concerned only the banks and institutional investors”.

“We want Ukraine in the EU”

But what about the current crisis? Mario Draghi argues that “the war in Ukraine puts Europe in front of the most serious crisis in its history, an energy crisis, a security crisis, an existential crisis.” It notes that “¼ of vegetable oil and 1/3 of cornmeal have been lost from Ukraine” and that, according to estimates by the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there is a risk of a food crisis due to Ukraine in the southern basin of the Mediterranean “which could affect at least 13 million people by 2026”.

Referring to the EU enlargement policy, the Italian Prime Minister expressed his support for the accession of the Western Balkans, adding that “the respective aspirations of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are legitimate”, while “we also want Ukraine in the EU”. . Finally, on the refugee issue, Mario Draghi said that “a new framework is needed, which will go beyond the logic of the Dublin Treaty”, while in any case we should “strengthen the conditions for repatriation”.

Giannis Papadimitriou, Strasbourg

Source: Deutsche Welle