EU reforms - in which direction ?

The European integration process, which started after the second world war, has aimed at preventing dangerous nationalism and instead make Europe stronger as a whole. Mixed results make it difficult to say if the cooperation has been a success or a failure. With "an ever closer union" as a wizard, the EU has met every problem with a call for "more Europe". That is also the situation to day. The Union wants more power to handle the Euro and migration crises.

But there is now a growing resistance in the member states to cede more sovereignty to Brussels. Nationalism has got a strong come back. The EU is now at an important crossroad. Reforms are needed, but should they consist of more or less Europe ? The answer to this will come through political struggle. Two perspectives on the integration reform has recently been presented.

Guy Verhofstadt, leader for the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe group in the European Praliament, proposes to create a system of two types of European membership: The first type is "full membership" that goes all the way. It makes you part of the "ever closer union" with one currency, one economic policy, one army and one foreign policy. Those European countries who think full membership is not their cup of tea, can apply for a second type: "associate membership". This gives access to to the internal market, you will only have to apply those rules and regulations that are necessary to create a level playing field in internal trade. Obviously, that also means you would no longer have full representation and the corresponding voting rights at EU level.

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he will launch a "third alternative" to "renationalisation" and the "antidemocratic European institutions" on 9 February 2016 in Berlin. The initiative, under the name of "Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiE25) wants to bring interests together in order to "democratize Europe and stop the creeping fragmentation".

The two perspectives are interesting, but it seems unclear if they can provide adequate responses to the challenges.