Mátyás Eörsi on the contradictory nature of the EU

If the member states are not willing to transfer sovereignty rights to Brussels the EU won't be able to survive in the long term, journalist Mátyás Eörsi predicts in the left-liberal weekly Magyar Narancs: "Many people today believe that in view of the profound crisis in several member states it is impossible to set major reforms in motion. They are wrong: the history of the EU is a history of crises - remember that World War II led to the creation of the predecessor organisation, the European Coal and Steel Community. ... Ever since its founding the EU has been marked by a contradiction: on the one hand it wants to be a super-state and maintain its role as an economic and political heavyweight, on the other its member states want a Europe of nations and are not willing to relinquish their competences to Brussels. This has led to the impossible situation that Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker once so aptly summarised: 'We all know what needs to be done but we don't know how we're supposed to win the next elections if we do it.' ... If the member states insist on their keeping their powers to themselves the EU will not be able to fulfil its tasks, which in turn will lead to its erosion."

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