The “United State of Europe”
When Euroscepticism became a part of the political landscape of the European Union, fears of the creation of a “United States of Europe” were widespread among circles opposed to this political project. In those days, this fear was widely regarded as cliché. However, clichés become clichés for a reason.
Much like those skeptical of the Brussels bureaucracy predicted, the union has concentrated power within its structures. Now that the United Kingdom has become the first country to leave the EU, you might think that there would be a re-evaluation of this large centralization effort. But to the contrary, the European Union is increasingly moving towards the centralization of two key aspects: foreign policy and defense.
Foreign Policy
Ever since the EU’s last institutional reform in 2009, the European Commission, which is the executive branch, has appointed a High Commissioner for Foreign Relations. The position, currently held by the Italian politician Federica Mogherini, has been mocked for essentially being useless since the EU doesn’t have a common foreign policy. This would be similar to appointing a secretary to a department that has been granted no powers by the government whatsoever. However, this hasn’t prevented Mogherini from making policy statements in an effort to unite European member states behind a common position.
A notable example of this was when Mogherini condemned the United States for moving the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but the Czech Republic blocked any attempt to have a common position. Czech president Miloš Zeman consecutively promised to follow the American lead and move its embassy as well.
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