Pragmatic federalism is the way for Europe

The need for European countries to be able to work more closely together emerges in many ways. Technological and economic lagging behind the United States and partly China, the security threat created by Russia, Donald Trump’s USA’s open hostility to Europe. The obvious answer to all of these is Europe’s united action.

When the EU has been able to act unitedly, the impact has been significant. The ability of European countries to act together in support of Ukraine has been an essential factor in Ukraine’s survival. When the EU expressed a credible readiness to respond to Trump’s threats to Greenland, Trump backed down.

The only problem is that the ability to act together is limited. An important limitation is the basic EU treaties. They allow centralized, federal decision-making in only a few policy areas, monetary policy and trade and competition policy.

Attempts have been made to square the circle for a long time

A deeper limitation is the fragmentation of political will, which makes it difficult to achieve sufficient consensus, including amending treaties to allow for more effective decision-making. Many member countries have a strong desire to hold on to their own decision-making power, even when it remains formal.

For a long time, there have been attempts to square the circle with “variable integration”, “variable geometry”, “Europe à la carte”. More recent terms include “coalitions of the willing” and Mario Draghin “pragmatic federalism” launched in the fall.

Examples are the Schengen area, the community patent, the euro area and, as a purely intergovernmental arrangement, the European Stability Mechanism. The term is not important. It is essential that those member countries that are willing to cooperate more closely do so.

Last January, the six largest EU countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands) discussed the creation of closer cooperation between the core countries, mainly in issues related to strengthening defense capabilities, developing capital markets, the status of the euro and securing critical raw materials.

Finland’s interest is a close Europe

It seems obvious that pragmatic federalism, or by whatever name the phenomenon is called, is the only possible path to the necessary closer integration. Its obvious drawback is the confusion of political control. However, this can be considered a tolerable price if results are produced. Over time, practical cooperation creates pressure to shape institutions.

Finland’s absolute interest, both on economic and security-related grounds, is closer joint action in Europe. Participation in its promotion and shaping of forms should be a central part of Finland’s EU policy.

We have a special interest in ensuring that countries outside the EU, Britain, Norway and maybe even Canada, can also participate when there are good grounds for doing so. The defense industry is an obvious such area.

The author is an economist and visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki.