Nation-states must act now to regain control of the European Union and preserve democracy

Adobe Stock

“Intensive work on treaty reform in order to bring about a more centralized European Union has been ongoing over the past four years. In 2022, the final report resulting from the “Conference on the Future of Europe” was published. When we presented Ordo Iuris’ report on this subject in Brussels, I heard from those who said that we were wasting our time, given that such radical demands could not be effectively turned into official reform proposals. Time has shown that we were right to raise the alarm.”

The following is a speech by the Polish lawyer Jerzy Kwaśniewski, Chairman of the Ordo Iuris Institute, that was given at the 3rd International St. Adalbert Conference entitled Central Europe at the Crossroads. The St. Adalbert Conference took place in Prague, Czechia during October 25–27. It is organized every year by Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti, a Czech organization that was founded in June 2020 “with the aim of studying, formulating, and interpreting the heritage of Saint Adalbert in the context of the Central European region and its value-related, cultural, religious, economic, and state-law needs.”

During the opening session, Tomáš Kulman of Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti  stated that “the only certainty left is the nation-state.” He was followed by Hungarian historian Mária Schmidt, whose precise diagnosis of the end of the era of global empires I share, and I agree with her opinion that ‟there is only one exception to the worldwide rise to prominence of national interest and national states, and that is the European Union, which aims to turn itself into an empire.”

A European superstate instead of European nation-states

In talking about the Central European region’s position in the world, one cannot overlook the obvious fact that it is and will remain part of the European Union for years to come. The project of a European superstate, or “European empire,” is an epochal challenge to our national interests that will lead to a historic opportunity to strengthen the nation-states. The latter will hopefully emerge from these turbulent times reaffirmed in their sovereignty, while operating under the new framework of a reformed EU that has been subordinated to their political will.

Before we can build a powerful political project based on Central European cooperation, however, we must ensure that our right to such dreams is not taken away. Today, while we are debating about and planning how to develop a community of nations in the region, a process leading to an unprecedented reform of the EU’s treaties is being brought to its culmination in Brussels.

It was rightly said during previous meetings of this conference that it is necessary to move on from the merely theoretical considerations of Central European unity and toward practical social, economic, infrastructural, and security projects.

The independent, practical policies of this region that have been discussed in our conferences stand in stark contrast to the European Union’s already quite advanced centralization project, however. This project includes, among other things, taking away the right of the member states to conduct their own foreign policies. Thus, the establishment of any new kind of treaty-based cooperation among the Central European states, as an alternative to the European Union, would require... the consent of the European Union.

Intensive work on treaty reform in order to bring about a more centralized European Union has been ongoing over the past four years. In 2022, the final report resulting from the “Conference on the Future of Europe” was published. When we presented Ordo Iuris’ report on this subject in Brussels, I heard from those who said that we were wasting our time, given that such radical demands could not be effectively turned into official reform proposals. Time has shown that we were right to raise the alarm.

A reform inspired by a communist manifesto

In August 2023, a European Parliament committee headed by Guy Verhofstadt presented a final list of the proposed amendments. These amendments are aimed at fully implementing the Conference on the Future of Europe’s radical conclusions. Three months later, in November 2023, the European Parliament approved the entire package of 267 treaty amendments, fully accepting the Verhofstadt committee’s draft.

The European Parliament's resolution, which triggered the official procedure required to alter the European Union’s fundamental treaties for the first time under the bloc’s Lisbon Treaty, which is currently in force, also indicated – in a shockingly open manner – these reforms’ deepest ideological source. Indeed, the very first words of its Preamble invoke the Ventotene Manifesto of the Italian Trotskyist Altiero Spinelli. This communist ideological declaration outlined a strategy aimed at a communist order in Europe, calling for the abolition of nations and borders, the limitation of property and inheritance rights, and – above all – the destruction of democracy and its replacement by the “dictatorship of the European party,” which is intended to create a new European man who will be a loyal citizen of an artificially created “State of Europe” – or, more aptly, an “Empire of Europe.”

One could respond by saying that this still represents only the reform’s initial phase, and that, in the end, it will not win the support of many member states. Such a judgment would be emblematic of the naivety of the European Union's newer members, however, which has become so characteristic of our approach over the past 20 years. This is so because in Brussels, mysteriously, differences and national interests lose their importance, and the quasi-religious reverence that is paid to consensus and bureaucracy leads to the adoption of political decisions which are clearly detrimental to the interests of the peoples of Europe. And so it was this time as well. Last December, the entire reform package was affirmed by the Council of the EU. Thus, a critical mass of consensus is growing, and the radical changes that were worked out are slowly becoming mainstream, rendering any opposition less and less feasible.

The looming end of national sovereignty

What does this consensus include? Among the 267 amendments, 35 are crucial. These are the ones that will determine the transfer of national sovereignty across ten areas. The basic features of a sovereign state - foreign policy, defense, and borders – will be the first victims of this takeover by Brussels. A Defense Union is likewise being formed that will take command over all the member states' armed forces, and above all assume control over their military budgets. The member states will thus lose the ability to conduct independent international policies, and the EU will also have the power to close their national embassies and replace them with outposts of the new superstate.

Moreover, under these amendments, national borders are disappearing. The only border that will remain is the EU’s border, and its sole administrator shall be the Union itself. Issues pertaining to migration, the construction of border walls, and illegal immigration will be shifted from the member states to the Union’s bodies.

Next is the economy. Cross-border infrastructure – airports, railroads, seaports, and highways – will become part of the Union's area of competence. The EU will also acquire the right to regulate every industry, without exception. Finally, it will be decided that the Union’s only currency shall be the Euro. A country that continues to refuse to join the Eurozone will be regarded as having violated the EU’s treaties. Climate policy will become another area of Brussels' exclusive competence, and will be entirely taken away from the member states. This includes the issue of entering into international agreements and treaties aimed at implementing green policies, which will have a direct impact on the legal systems of the Union’s member states.

Finally, civilizational issues are something the amendments’ authors likewise wish to put under Brussels’ control, in clear violation of the EU’s fundamental principle of respect for the Union’s cultural diversity and in violation of the principle of subsidiarity. Education, from kindergarten to university, is to be centrally regulated by Brussels as well. And it will also be the Union that decides on issues of family law: the definition of what a family and marriage are, not to mention the bioethical issues underlying abortion, surrogacy, and euthanasia. Issues that even those nations within Central Europe tend to differ on will be taken away and decided by those who view the euthanizing of infants and children as a civilizational achievement, and who will raise abortion to the level of a constitutional right.

This will lead the new Empire of Europe to gain the power to crush all national or regional opposition in the name of those ideologies that prevail in Brussels and the above-mentioned Ventotene Manifesto. When the nation-states and Central Europe as a region realize that it is impossible to develop their own projects, it will trigger rising tensions, eventually leading to a new European order based on power and intimidation that will wage war against freedom, national identities, our Christian heritage, and common sense, harming the common good.

Time to act

The only thing still standing between us and the eventual ratification of this new order by the member states is the EU’s Treaty Convention, as required by the treaty itself. This Convention has not been convened in 2024. Why? Because this reform can only succeed if its authors and supporters do not arouse resistance by waking the sleeping giant: the peoples of Europe. After all, no one wants a repeat of the fiasco that was the French referendum on the Constitution of Europe 20 years ago. It is for this reason that there was silence on this topic during the European Parliament’s election campaign, which was soon followed by Hungary’s assumption of the EU Council’s presidency, during which no advancement on this issue could be expected.

This, however, is not the end of the story. The plan is clear. The voice calling for these reforms to be urgently adopted, given that they will primarily affect the Central European region must therefore come out of this region – for tactical reasons. The opportunity for doing so is now perfect. Starting in January, the presidency of the EU Council will be held by Poland and the government of Donald Tusk.

Our nations thus face a pivotal opportunity to influence the future of all of Europe.

We need to stop these treaty reforms and propose alternative changes, which will guarantee the possibility to form and develop regional Central European cooperation.

We need to demand conservative reforms – by strengthening the principle of subsidiarity, limiting the powers of unelected bodies such as the European Commission, ending the European Court of Justice’s hegemony, extending the unanimity rule, introducing reversibility of harmonization, and putting the treaty’s full powers into one political body: the Council, where the nation-states are represented, so that the European Union remains under the full control of the democratically-elected national governments.

In calling for a refusal to ratify the treaty reforms that have been proposed by the European Parliament, we are aware of the EU's double standards. A rejection of ratification is often a pretext... to put ratification to a vote again. It is only determination demonstrated by a strong community of our nation-states that can stop the birth of the Empire of Europe.

As a proud Polish citizen and Central European, I will end with this call:

“God bless our lands, God bless our nations. Our Lady of Częstochowa, pray for us.”