A minority of two member states – Hungary and Poland – are using their voting weight to prevent the enforcement of the rule of law on their territory. This may come as a surprise at first, because the rule of law and the fight against corruption should actually be a matter of course. In purely formal terms, the governments in Warsaw and Budapest are right. The lever at which the two countries are using their veto power is the forthcoming preparation of the long-term budget. And this is subject to the principle of unanimity in decisions in the EU Council and co-determination between the European Parliament and the Council.

But what is political behind it?

In the summer of this year, after much hesitation and hesitation, the Community

to counteract policies and actions contrary to the values of the Community with financial resources in a Member State. In other words, those countries that are no longer willing to meet the conditions already required by the accession procedure and the Copenhagen criteria will also have to expect financial sanctions in the future.

Conversely, Hungary and Poland are trying, by means of the rights formally due to them, to increase the pressure on Brussels to shape common policies in order to persuade the other Member States to back down. In this respect, there is currently a real slap and collapse at the head of the European Union. And under the given balance of power, it is not certain which of the two sides will ultimately prevail or what consequences this could have for the EU as such.

What does the dispute over the structural integrity of the EU say?

The current dispute manifests a long-simmering structural birth defect of the EU. This has repeatedly had fatal consequences for the mechanisms of power-sharing at the highest level of the European union of states.

The Member States are indeed the real founders or ‘fathers’ of the Community. As such, they have, from the outset, assumed a leading position and laid it down in the Treaty of Rome. At the same time, it was stipulated that once all countries have acquired the position of full member, they will be given the same position and rank as all the others. From the largest to the smallest member state. In certain policy areas, therefore, in fact, every national government has been given a right of veto.

What are the consequences for all of us?

All this may have been comprehensible with a few members of the community in the founding period and in the case of hardly significant discrepancies. In the modern age, however, with all its global challenges and the compulsion to make wise, coordinated decisions in the shortest possible time, this regulation seems more or less antiquated. It often seems almost anachronistic. For example, the EU still lacks a sustainable, Community refugee policy. And in competition with China and the US, Europeans are also in danger of being sidelined economically because they do not speak with one voice.

In this respect, the current votes are no longer just about political power games. The consequences of a lack of capacity to act affect us all. The citizens of Europe are called upon to influence their governments and to ask themselves the question: how much are we prepared to do for Community added value? Futura Fabrica offers a platform for ideas to give the EU back its clout.

Der Beitrag Rule of Law Mechanism – The EU at a crossroads erschien zuerst auf Futura Fabrica.

The ECB has set up a working group with the central banks of Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as the Bank for International Settlements, for this major project.

Former ECB President Mario Draghi has clearly denied the introduction of central bank-based cryptocurrency. The change of strategy under his successor Christine Lagarde comes at a time when corporations such as Facebook, as well as the Chinese state, are exploring the possibilities of virtual money creation. An introduction via the ECB would therefore not be a day too early.

Risks for banks

Banks first spoke out in assessing the opportunities and risks of a Central Bank-Issued Digital Currency (CBDC). They worry that citizens could withdraw their money from traditional current accounts with their zero or penalty interest rates in order to invest it more cheaply with the ECB. In fact, the increase in money would be brought more closely into the original design of the ECB by means of an additional game variant; provided that an appropriate legal framework is established for this purpose. However, the banks’ worst-case scenario appears unfounded; there are already considerations that parking of digitally exchanged euros in ECB accounts of around EUR 3,000 or more should be subject to a penalty rate.

Opportunities for citizens

But what could be the added value of a digital currency for each of us? Banks already have sufficient amounts of money. However, risk aspects repeatedly prevent the money from being disbursed to individuals and companies seeking credit. With the introduction of a central bank-based second currency alongside the analogue euro, this target group could have its own ECB bank account. Instead of just converting euros into “EU bits,” however, the ECB should consider how it can use its digital money creation facility as an active financial instrument. For example, during the Corona crisis, all EU citizens could receive a ‘virtual welcome allowance’. This virtual entry fee could also be used as a first financial aid, but also for important impulses for the recovery of the economy.

In addition, if the EU Commission finds a national emergency for a Member State or region, further aid money in the sense of a “helicopter money” could be paid into the new ECB accounts without red tape.

It is also conceivable that people and companies that have been particularly committed to the community or, for example, to climate and refugee projects, would receive additional coins under a transparent bonus system.

Visible added value of the ECB for each and every one of us

Whatever the functions of a cryptocurrency at the end of the day, it is crucial that this project must not become an additional playground for foreign exchange speculators. Speculative income should be taxed directly and paid to Brussels. Instead, the ECB has a historic opportunity to make its personal added value for Europe directly tangible. We need to take advantage of this momentum.

Der Beitrag The European Central Bank is considering the introduction of its own digital currency. erschien zuerst auf Futura Fabrica.