The multifaceted European rebalancing

Because the EU no longer seems to produce sustainable politics and give enough added value, there is a need for changes. The question is which ones. For many years more integration has been the answer and many still think that should also be the way forward. But day by day the counter-forces become stronger. Brexit is the most powerful expression of this development.

A British withdrawel from the European Union will influence the European political powerstructure. UK will regain some of the decision power it has ceded to the European Union, but will also loose power because it will not longer be part of the much stronger European Union. Ideally the divorce should rebalance the distribution of power between the Union and the UK so that the Union retains power where both benefit from it and UK get back power where it gives both an added value. But this exercise is difficult and probably impossible. UK and the Union's interests are not always identical and interests change over time.

There is also disagreement in both the UK and the Union about which solutions are the best. Many UK-remainers still hope to avoid a Brexit, and among the Brexiters there are different views about what kind of future relationship UK shall try to establish with the EU and between UK and the rest of the world. Within the Union there is no agreement of a future vision among the 27 member states, and the authorities of the Union are also fighting among themselves about having a leading role.

This is the context for a rebalancing of the European political system. The Brexit vote necessitates action. A reform process was therefore initiated in the EU. The Bratislava meeting next week may bring it a step further.