As always happens, the elections for the European parliament they prepare with little discussion of European policies; in all countries they are in fact perceived as a political test for governments and national parties, in which they can take measures of voter satisfaction, with overall limited consequences on the internal political balance.
The successes of European policies: from the Next Generation EU, to asylum and immigration
However, this does not imply that European policies are irrelevant; what has been done and presumably will be done on issues such as immigration or industrial policies are clearly present in the eyes of voters. From this point of view it must be said first of all that in the legislature that is coming to an end, the European Council and the Commission can boast notable successes in common policies. The first and greatest success is represented, it seems to me, by Next Generation US, a program supported by huge resources (750 billion euros) which made it possible to avoid the recessive effects of the pandemic and which continues to support demand especially in less dynamic countries (like ours). The approval of the program - obtained quickly in a climate of strong solidarity between member countries - contributed significantly to strengthen support for Europe in public opinion and national parliaments, also given that the financial flows linked to the program continue and will continue until 2026.
A positive result, albeit with some complexity, also concerns asylum and immigration policies, recently completed by various legislative provisions of the Council and the European Parliament which cover all stages of the reception process - including checks on irregular migrants upon arrival in the EU, procedures for asylum applications, determination of the responsible Member State, ways of managing situations of crisis. The system increases solidarity between member states, lightening the burdens on the countries of first arrival and is enriched by collaboration tools between the Union and its member countries with the countries from which the migratory flows originate, aimed at reducing departures and disembarks. The common policies they remain on the subject still blocked in this narrow area, which does not allow us to open the doors to the legal immigration required to strengthen the EU's skills in new digital technologies, in which the EU remains dramatically behind.
EU support for Ukraine and common defense
THEUnion, which does not have precise expertise in the matter, has also made an incisive commitment to political and financial support of Ukraine attacked by Russia. Even if cooperation was guided by NATO decisions, the maintenance of the Union's unity of action was a significant achievement, which could pave the way for a strengthening of institutional instruments of cooperation in the fields of foreign and security policy . Naturally, the voices of Hungary and Slovakia are inconsistent in this; a providential change of government prevented the fracture from spreading to Poland, with potentially much more serious consequences on the cohesion of the Union.
Moreover, the theme of common action in the field of defencea still remains largely confined to a very partial commitment to the common development of technological and operational systems and the increase in joint purchases of military supplies. The decision, taken by the European Council in 2017, to strengthen the functions of the European Defense Agency in these fields has not yet led to concrete developments – but the instrument exists and can quickly be filled with content, if the common military challenges and defense will continue to intensify.
The development of the internal market
The heart of the process of economic integration stay focused on development of the internal market, largely achieved in the manufactured goods sector, but still rather behind in the field of services and, above all, capital. The topic was placed at the center of the Letta report, recently presented to the European Council. Overcoming a regulatory framework that is still too fragmented encounters serious political obstacles in the defense of "national champions" in crucial fields such as telecommunications, energy and large transport networks, which so far governments have not allowed to be undermined. The result is not only the limited size of the capital market, but the weakness of the national companies that want to protect themselves, which in effect cannot achieve on a purely national basis the gains in size and competitiveness necessary to compete with the large American operators, Japanese and, increasingly, Chinese.
The Green Deal
The European Union has developed over the years a extremely ambitious environmental policy, centered on the objectives of climate neutrality (by 2050) and sustainable development. These objectives are reflected in all European policies with growing intensity. In the last year, the significant costs of environmental policies have led to a real revolt by peasant organizations against the Green Deal, who cannot bear the costs. An immediate effect was the scaling back environmental ads in community programs; a review of the timing and contents of the joint action by the new Commission on the matter now appears probable, despite the European Parliament's strong commitment on the matter.
The enlargement process
At the end of last year the European Council decided to launch a new enlargement process, aimed essentially at strengthening security guarantees for Ukraine through admission to the European Union. The promise to Ukraine inevitably brings with it that of enlargement to six Balkan countries, blocked at the door for over twenty years, as well as to some other states bordering Russia (Georgia and Moldova); curiously, despite the declarations of closure that have multiplied in the last two decades, the negotiations for accession to the Union of Turkey.
Even if the process will take years, perhaps decades, a new enlargement to many countries poses serious challenges operating problems of the institutions of the Union, still bound to the principle of unanimity in all matters most specifically relating to sovereignty - such as defence, political rights, decision-making mechanisms on the political-institutional architecture of the Union. The response to this problem by Germany, France and other "core" countries of the Union is seen in theintroduction of majority voting in many subjects, however still to be identified, today subject to unanimity. However, the countries that have most recently joined the Union do not want to hear about it, since they understand that majority voting would end up consolidating the leadership role of a smaller core of countries at the center of the Union (the euro countries?). Without their consent, however, this change in decision-making mechanisms will not be possible.
Therefore, with the new enlargement the Union is moving towards one difficult bottleneck, in which its functioning may be compromised if the commitments made to the entry candidates are respected, or its external security policy may enter into crisis if the commitments cannot be respected. It should be added – and this is talked about too little – that i candidates for entry in the Union there are countries with political systems and, I would add, values very distant from those of the current members. The potential multiplication of members who are politically more similar to Hungary and Slovakia, or even more politically and economically backward, can over time produce a complete distortion of the political objectives and common values of the Union, ending up compromising the very objective of the union European politics.
The future path of the EU
These few considerations indicate that the future path of the Union is not lacking highly problematic aspects, which unfortunately did not find much place in the political debates in view of the European Parliament elections. It is now clear that the discussion on these issues can only open after the elections - which however will not in all probability produce very different political balances from the current ones (albeit with a probable increase in the weight of the right-wing parties which were anti-system, but which are learning to move with ease within the current system). It would be important for awareness of these problems to become clearer among the parties competing for the electorate's favor.
