Brussels event: the European Commission’s power grab

I'll be presenting my latest report: "The silent coup: the ever-expanding scope of the European Commission and the consequences for democracy"

On September 11, in Brussels, I’ll be presenting my latest MCC Brussels report titled:

The silent coup: the ever-expanding scope of the European Commission and the consequences for democracy.

More info on the event, including the form to register for it, here.

In recent years, a succession of crises for the EU has seen an accompanying expansion of the power of the European Commission. The sovereign debt crisis, the refugee crisis, the Brexit vote, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war have all invariably led to an increase in the scope of the Commission’s competences. Has this merely been a “natural” response to serious crises? Or has the Commission used these crises as an excuse to forge a more supranational and centralised EU?

At the centre of this process sits Ursula von der Leyen. She has been particularly active in transforming the EU governance into what Politico has called an almost “US-presidential style understanding of executive power” and garnering von der Leyen the nickname of “Queen Ursula” in Brussels. How has VDL been able to affect this transformation of EU power? 

My latest report draws draws on a growing body of evidence and scholarship to demonstrate that this has mostly occurred surreptitiously, through various forms of “competence creep”. In the absence of formal treaty changes, and outside of the realm of democratic debate, we have witnessed a game-changing transfer of sovereignty from the national to the supranational level, at the expense of democratic control and accountability. This is what scholars have called “integration by stealth”, “covert integration”, or, in the words of political philosopher Perry Anderson, “the coup”.

The report’s launch hopes to provide a much-needed opportunity to understand and debate the causes and consequences of the transformation of the EU through the crises of the recent past. It explores how the various crises of the past fifteen years have accelerated the EU’s transformation, with a particular focus on the first presidential terms of von der Leyen. The paper demonstrates how the VDL Commission used the Covid-19 and Ukraine crises, in particular, to enact a creeping transfer of competences from the national to the supranational level through a series of “silent coups”. It further investigates the shift in power dynamics between the Commission and the European Council, and the paradox of how this process has often been promoted by member states themselves, at the expense of their sovereignty. Finally, it raises concerns about the erosion of national sovereignty and democratic accountability that this process has entailed.

The event will not only give an account of the past, but also look ahead. At the beginning of the EU’s next institutional cycle, this is an opportunity for a necessary discussion on what we can expect from the re-election of von der Leyen, and how to challenge the ever-expanding scope of European Commission powers. 

See you in Brussels!

More info on the event, including the form to register for it, here.

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Thomas Fazi

Website: thomasfazi.net

Twitter: @battleforeurope 

Latest book: The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left (co-authored with Toby Green)