Germany is calling for sweeping reforms to the European Union’s decision-making process, arguing that the bloc should abandon its unanimity requirement in favour of qualified majority voting to prevent individual member states from blocking key policies.
Speaking at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the current system leaves the EU unable to respond effectively to major challenges and called for changes that would make the bloc “capable of acting” in areas where it is currently paralysed.
According to Wadephul, Germany has already secured the backing of 12 EU member states for the proposal.
The reform would effectively remove the veto power that currently allows any one of the EU’s 27 member states to halt major decisions. While Wadephul said unanimity should remain the preferred outcome, he argued that qualified majority voting would make it significantly easier for the bloc to reach decisions when consensus cannot be achieved.
The proposal follows repeated disputes over Hungary’s use of its veto during Viktor Orbán’s time in office. Most notably, Budapest delayed approval of a €90 billion financial package for Ukraine after damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline disrupted Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia.
The blockade ended after Orbán lost April’s parliamentary elections to Péter Magyar, whose government has since approved the loan.
“We could see it last week when funds were released,” Wadephul said, arguing that the actions of a small number of countries should not be able to prevent the EU from acting.
The German foreign minister also proposed expanding the use of “enhanced cooperation”, which allows groups of willing member states to move ahead with joint initiatives even if all 27 countries cannot agree. He said the approach should also be applied to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Beyond decision-making, Wadephul called for changes to the bloc’s financial rules, arguing that access to EU funding should remain tied to compliance with the rule of law. He said countries that fail to uphold the EU’s shared values should not receive financial support.
The EU has frozen billions of euros in funding for Hungary over concerns about judicial independence and other rule-of-law issues. Hungary’s new government is currently negotiating with Brussels in an effort to unlock those funds.
Wadephul also outlined broader institutional reforms aimed at reducing bureaucracy as the EU prepares for future enlargement. Among his suggestions were shrinking the European Commission so that commissioners represent only two-thirds of member states and reforming the European Parliament to improve efficiency.
On enlargement, he argued that future candidate countries should join the EU through a phased process rather than becoming full members immediately, saying a gradual approach could make further expansion more politically acceptable. Although he did not mention Ukraine directly, proposals for limited or staged EU membership for Kiev have been discussed in recent years.
Addressing relations with the United States, Wadephul said he remained confident in the strength of the transatlantic alliance, despite current political tensions. He also highlighted the EU’s single market as one of the world’s largest and said creating a common European defence market would strengthen cooperation but also reduce costs across the bloc.
