Interview: EU might be opting for multi-speed model: former Hungarian FM

The European Union, proud of the peace and economic wealth it brought in the last 60 years, might be opting for a multi-speed model, causing a deeper division between its members, former EU Commissioner and former Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs has said.

"The probable direction is greatly depending on the heavy-weight core member states, such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain, because their role is determinative," Balazs told Xinhua in an exclusive interview recently.

"This year and the next, many elections will be held, and if the pro-integration forces get the majority, the multi-speed model will prevail, which will result in some countries springing forward, and the rest lagging back," explained Balazs, now a professor at Central European University (CEU).

"The EU recently published five scenarios about the possible directions of the development trends, in the form of a white paper. This paper sums up five possibilities, of which I see two that are more probable to be realized than the rest," Balazs pointed out.

"One is about the scenario where not every member states want a closer integration. If that is the case, we shall let that happen to those who want it. This scenario may be called a two- or a multi-speed model," he said.

"The other one is when the differentiation within the EU is not done alongside countries but cases. Here too, the EU wanted to achieve too many things at the same time. The branches that can be governed together must be limited to those where the political will and the political means are both present," he added.

When speaking of the reasons that resulted in a multi-speed model, Balazs told that the EU wanted probably to "achieve too much, too soon."

"The main problem is that Europe went too far by becoming overconfident. Encouraged by its previous successes, it started projects that were not elaborated enough. There were two such projects, one of them was the common currency, the euro, and the other was the common European constitution," Balazs underlined.

"We have to admit that the common currency had been quite shaken by the first serious international crisis, although it managed to recover. As for the constitution, we finally got the Lisbon Treaty, which is not a bad think," he said.

Balazs believed another source of the problem was that the European Union took too far the question of enlargement. It gave membership to many countries that were not yet ready for the integration, they were not mature enough.

"A sign of that lack of maturity is the kind of populism that has appeared in countries such as Poland or Hungary, in nations where instead of a closer integration, the leadership is interested in more autonomy," he stressed.

The EU is facing these challenges after decades of peace and prosperity, he said.

"The most important effect of the integration process of the European Union is undoubtedly the fact that after long decades of war, Europe reached the status where the countries that have conflicts with each other resolve it with cooperation and dialogue. This is of course also valid for Europe citizens," Balazs pointed out.

"Moreover, the other perhaps most important yield of the integration process is the several decades economic development, that has also given very much to the Europeans," he said.

Common people also shared the opinion of the expert.

"I am pro-European, that is why I have faith in the future of Europe. I think it would be wise to think about unified, common goals in the fields of defence, taxes and energy. It would be also wise to decrease the bureaucracy of the EU and to increase the authority of the European Parliament," Gabor Gero, co-owner and manager of Monday Insurance Brokers Ltd, told Xinhua.

Asked about his hopes for the future of the EU, he also said that the European alliance would probably switch to a multi-speed development path, shortly following the Brexit.

" Big countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with perhaps the Benelux states, will achieve greater integration," Gero explained. Endit