Calling for a radical reboot, the Dutch MEP argues a weak European parliament has left EU leaders too powerful and unaccountable
Even by the standards of the plain-speaking Dutch, Sophie in ‘t Veld is pretty blunt. The European Council – the body of EU leaders – is “from a democratic point of view, a monster” and “totally dysfunctional”, she says. The European Commission is “shamelessly protecting” autocratic governments, over enforcing the rule of law. And the European parliament, the veteran MEP thinks, “is not playing its role within European democracy”.
While EU leaders have applauded the unprecedented speed of EU sanctions against Russia, taboo-breaking decisions to fund lethal weapons for Ukraine and help Ukrainian refugees, in ‘t Veld thinks the war has only exposed the EU’s “dysfunctional” governance, a complex patchwork of institutions where national governments are ultimately in charge. “I very much welcome the fact that the European Union is now taking steps [to support Ukraine], that there is more integration; I think that is long overdue, but that also increases the need for a more democratic union,” she told the Guardian.
