EU Foreign Policy Faces Continuous Difficulties, Calls for Reform of Consensus Decision-Making Mechanism Resurface

According to reports from the political news website POLITICO Europe, citing analyses from multiple diplomats and scholars, with the continuous escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, the ongoing stalemate in Russia's war in Ukraine, and pressure on transatlantic relations, the European Union is facing the risk of its systemic processing capacity failing to keep up with the speed of geopolitical changes.

The report points out that the key lies in the EU's inability to make unified decisions on important issues, such as its failure to provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro loan due to Hungary's opposition, its failure to implement measures against Russia, and its failure to sanction radical West Bank settlers.

Against this backdrop, Germany, Sweden, and several other countries are pushing for reforms to the consensus decision-making mechanism that requires unanimity, aiming to more strictly limit a single country's veto power, or even abolish it entirely.

The report notes that amidst this wave of reform discussions, external attention is focused on Hungary, where presidential elections are scheduled for the 12th. The outcome of the election will determine whether the current difficulties in the EU's policy of aiding Ukraine and sanctioning Russia will change. However, some diplomats also point out that even if Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban steps down, the fundamental problem will remain, because the unanimity-based consensus decision-making mechanism allows any government to adopt the same obstructive stance. '26 out of 27 countries support it, but because of one country's opposition, we can't do anything.'

The report quotes Nacho Sanchez Amor, a member of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, as saying that such a decision-making method poses serious problems. New issues emerge every month highlighting this trend, and the EU must respond.

Stefan Lehne, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, suggests structural changes in the report, including merging the European External Action Service (EEAS) back into the European Commission and establishing a European Security Council to respond more quickly to emerging threats.

Moldova is very actively seeking to join the EU. The report mentions that President Maia Sandu recently reminded European countries during her visit that if the EU cannot demonstrate 'strategic consistency,' supporting Ukraine while being unable to consolidate regional security due to rigid internal mechanisms, then a large-scale shift of voters towards populism will have profound security implications. (Edited by Hsieh Yi-hsuan) 1150407