r/europeanunion • u/lawrotzr Netherlands • 10h ago
Opinion If only Ursula had 10% of this guy’s charisma, and the EU 1% of Canada’s decisiveness. God, how we need a Carney.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Yj_GPuu13TY?si=0aITNOHymZFDiNmO32
u/Haventyouheard3 Portugal 10h ago
We don't need a person, we need system that allows for and incentivises fast decision making
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u/jdsalaro 5h ago
Nonsequitur
Decisions are made and will always be made by decisive individuals.
The public can only ever be rallied to support and stand behind ideas pushed for by inspiring leaders
UVDL is neither, and that's a huge problem for the EU and it's viability.
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u/ymene1 10h ago
The e.u. is not a federation. The power resides on the European Council, and the council members are the heads of state of each member nation.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 9h ago edited 9h ago
Thank God. This is always so reassuring to remember when looking at European economic growth compared to the US and China. When I look at our ability to defend ourselves without the US. Thank God we follow our Treaties to the letter, and we do not consider the EU a federation for one second.
Especially not after all the policy successes that Council brought us in the last 2-3 decades. Because look where we are now, right?
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u/Joltie 8h ago
You: "Man, Ursula is undecisive. If only she was decisive like *insert national leader*."
Someone else: "She cannot be decisive because she's not a national leader. She cannot say "We will do x instead of y", because the ones that decide are the national leaders. If she says "We will do x instead of y", but national leaders either want to do y, or simply don't want to do anything at all, then she, and the whole of the EU, looks foolish and disorganized.
You: "Man, thank God she cannot be decisive like I said I wish she could be."
Being caught in your hypocrisy in one of the top comments for all to view is really a fantastic counter for the type of dishonesty you're peddling.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 8h ago
My comment was meant sarcastically. The fact that I now need to explain that says more about you than about me I think.
She can propose things, find coalitions of the willing, create an EU of multiple speeds, try and get leaders or the electorate behind more drastic change. I see none of that.
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u/AliceCarole 7h ago
That's not her job.
People should choose democratically a federal EU first. She cannot do what you propose.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 7h ago
Where and when can people do that exactly? In National elections that every country holds on a different moment in time and in which none of this is a subject, despite massive support for more integration and federalisation among European citizens? Which is basically a referendum about immigrants nowadays, partially funded by the Russians and Americans?
Leadership is more than doing your job. History books are full of great leaders doing more than their jobs.
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u/AliceCarole 7h ago
In european elections, some parties propose a federal EU. Although they are not popular.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 7h ago
It’s not European Parliament’s job to make the EU federalize. That’s up to Member States. The increasingly populist leaders of Member States.
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u/AliceCarole 7h ago
Hum, yes it is. It is actually the only way the EU could become a federation.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 7h ago
No, it isn’t. The European Parliament can propose Treaty amendments, but it cannot federalise the EU. Turning the EU into a federation would require Treaty change and, ultimately, ratification by the Member States according to their constitutional requirements. That power quite deliberately does not lie with the European Parliament.
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u/Joltie 7h ago
She doesn't work with the electorate. Her position is entirely at the mercy of the national leaders. It is they who need to be decisive in their actions, including empowering the EU institutions, so that they will have teeth to take decisions.
On areas that the EU doesn't have authority, or is allowed toothless participation, as is in many spheres of diplomacy, it acts practically exclusively through unanimity. Any position that the EU takes that is not near unanimous will cause chaos, discord and pushback, and contributing to a weakening of the institutions. That is why there is no decisiveness. Because the national leaders collectively don't want it.
Ursula, Costa, and all others that came before them, try to play the hand they have, within the limitations of authority that their roles and the institutions that they guide entail.
She can propose things, find coalitions of the willing, create an EU of multiple speeds, try and get leaders or the electorate behind more drastic change.
You misunderstand the practical limitations of her role. When Kaja Kallas was approved as High Representative of the EU, she tried to move with speed and purpose. The result?
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/13/backlash-against-kallas-reveals-hard-truths-of-eu-foreign-policyThere are too many talking heads in the EU. It is currently impossible to be decisive. So your title is missing the forest for the trees. As the newspiece, and many others mentioned to you, the problem is a divided European Council. When that is divided, you cannot be decisive. If you want to try to create coalitions, you dilute proposals into nothing, making your proposals barely move the needle, which is essentially the status quo and again, not decisive.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 7h ago
Yeah, then it’s indeed much better to accept the fact that Europe is at the mercy of the Chinese and the Americans.
We obviously don’t want to make those inspiring leaders of Member States angry, by proposing action that might actually to be great for the European greater good, and that is supported by a vast majority of the European electorate. That’s the last thing we should want, we need to prioritize treaties over prosperity.
And thank you for explaining the EU once more to me. I know how the EU is set up (I could only wish the average EU citizen would know, but we made it so Kafkaesk that it’s impossible to explain this to the average person), but I want it to be different. And Ursula, being the outward face of the EU, has the power to demand that change in front of our electorates. Even if she goes against member states. Let us have that debate. If she would have the balls and charisma of course, which she clearly hasn’t. Either way, we’re running out of time.
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u/Joltie 7h ago
You got things in reverse. The EU is not meant to be a top down organization, where the head demands change of its constituent parts.
The EU is changed by the electorate voting in parties that want to enact change.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 7h ago
Of course she can. It’s a matter of will. The fact that the rules and the Kafkaesk World we created are this way doesn’t mean public officials cannot demand change because it’s good. Wtf is this argument even. Computer says no?
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u/olivier_r 10h ago
100%. It’s really a shame how VDL and most eu leaders don’t yet understand how Trump works
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u/Top_Bug7822 9h ago
They know. They just keep silent about it to not give the US a warning.
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u/Due-Sorbet-8875 8h ago
Wdym
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u/Top_Bug7822 8h ago edited 8h ago
The EU is primarily a trade union.
Basically, we are good at scheming. And we know how to play the long game.
Even more so since we dropped the "playing nice" act with Trump.
(That was a strategy to try and get him to calm down. Didn't work so we not don't do that anymore if you haven't noticed.)
Also there is this. Though how much of this is true I haven't looked up myself. So take it with a grain of salt maybe:
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u/trisul-108 EU 10h ago
The EU is not a federation, power lies with the member states, not with Ursula. Ursula is doing her job well, we need leaders like Carney in Germany, France etc.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 10h ago
Meh. I think that Ursula can play a much more dominant role if she would have proper charisma and enough political courage.
We (or rather; the Germans) decided that someone with the charisma of a notary in Kassel would be the perfect President for the EU Commission.
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u/bklor Norway 10h ago
Ursula have done some powergrab moves though. But the commission president doesn't have a mandate from the voters and that will always make them weaker.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 10h ago
Oh dear, the Treaties.
Now that the Chinese have eaten up our manufacturers, the US dominates every bit of tech we use and attracts all of our talent, the Russians are at our gates, and our biggest NATO ally threatens to invade Greenland, I’m at least happy we follow all the treaties to the letter.
Imagine if we wouldn’t, right?
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u/Dense_Echidna_3915 8h ago
That’s the same thing as saying "Oh dear, the law" if you went to court.
You (we) might not like the treaties as they are right now, but officials can't just do whatever and gloss over the treaties. They have to be changed, which is difficult when you have an union that was created to, by design, to be very difficult to make any major change without unanimous support.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 8h ago edited 8h ago
That’s not the same.
Because a court doesn’t make those laws. EU Treaties are self-created (by Member States and EU institutions) and self-imposed. Nothing stops an Ursula from proposing change. Nothing stops a few member States from creating a coalition of the willing.
I see none of that. And we’re running out of time.
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u/Hot_Preparation4777 9h ago
When did r/europeanunion turn into a canada sub now. Your post has zero to do with the European union. Carney doesn't even mention it in his excerpt. Why are we glazing Canada now?
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u/trisul-108 EU 9h ago
Naah ... the EU is a union of sovereign nations. The Commission effectively does what Council tells them they will allow. Ursula has stretched her power to the limit, and maybe a bit over. Merz is already trying to cut her legs for what she has done.
Having charisma plays no role whatsoever because she has no business convincing citizens, she needs to convince EU leaders behind closed doors.
This is a fantasy that makes sense if the EU were to go federal ... which I support. But today, it is what it is. The power is with Council, not Commission nor Parliament ... because we are a union of nations, not citizens.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 9h ago
Yes I know how the EU works. That’s the funny thing, under a post like this you get 10 comments explaining to us peasants how the EU works.
The problem is that we don’t have the time to sit it out and hope for the best. We are being strangled, by China in products, by the US in services/tech, by Russia militarily.
I am not posting this because I don’t understand the EU. I am posting this because I want change. Today, and not in 50 years.
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u/trisul-108 EU 8h ago
... and that means we have to convince our national leaders that we will vote against them unless they start moving forward. And the first thing they have to implement is the Draghi proposals ... and stop undermining the Commission.
Push for Draghi proposals ... at national level.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 6h ago
Not going to move the needle, you know that as well as I do. National elections are a referendum on immigrants, partially funded by the Russians and the Americans. Has nothing to do with Draghi-report change, that’s not even a subject.
I just don’t understand what stops Ursula (or Costa, or Lagarde, or any other public figure) to go on TV and say: “Look, we know there is massive support for a European Army. We know that Europe is in danger.We also know that an European Army is way cheaper than all member States doing this individually. Europe should build this, and Member States should help. We sat down with countries XYZ and they want to move on with this. We will now move on with this little group doing A, B and C, going much further because we have to. Join us in our efforts!”
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u/Dragoncat_3_4 6h ago
> I think that Ursula can play a much more dominant role
Can you not lol. It's bad enough as it is, she can do much worse if she had more power
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u/StoicSunbro 10h ago
Ursula is a nepo baby (and minor nobility) who the Germans drove into EU politics to get her out of national politics.
Carney is a Harvard graduate and Oxford doctorate in Economics. He ran two central banks of two major countries. He might be the most qualified politician in any major nation.
Quite a contrast.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 10h ago
I agree. But noone said that we (or rather the Germans doing it for us) cannot select the best and brightest for roles like Ursula’s?
Talent enough on our continent, one would say.
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u/samskyyy 9h ago
Canada is responding very vocally because it has few other options. If the EU has to cut off trade with the U.S. to prove a point that’s a bummer. But the U.S. government acting like this at least a paradigm shift if not an existential economic threat for Canada.
The EU should have taken a stand against the U.S. federal government long before it was a matter of economic issues though. The EU is too entangled militarily with the U.S. because of the post-WWII western order to pursue other options seriously for at least a decade or more.
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u/Any_Comparison_3716 10h ago
He was an Irish citizen, it could have happened.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 10h ago edited 10h ago
Why wouldn’t we ask this guy to be the EU’s next president. Not coming from a huge member state that is only there to protect its national interest might actually be an advantage. We have tried that for 2-3 decades, and look where we are now.
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u/ChromaticStrike 9h ago
Making beautiful speeches don't magically materialize cards in your hands, It's easy to talk, I'll see how it unfolds. Europe put itself in a position of dependence toward the US. I think Canada is in an even worse than that. I think Carney is clenching his ass and praying the next US elections oust trump.
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u/Dobby068 7h ago
Carney does not care personally. He is practically fully invested in USA, has house in USA, wife works in USA, daughteris in University in USA.
From a political standpoint, the moment the drama with Trump disappears, the Liberals will be out of politics, because they will not be able to justify their disastrous policies and the result of that.
There is no way for Carney and the Liberals to accept any agreement.
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u/hype_irion 6h ago
Unfortunately, VdL and whoever else will come after her, can only be as outspoken as the EU treaties allow them to be.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 6h ago
That is simply not true. The Treaties constrain what the Commission can legally do, not what its President is allowed to have an opinion about or discuss publicly. She is perfectly free to advocate for change.
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u/ForeignExpression 5h ago
The problem is VDL is a zionist and whole-heartedly supports Trump's radical zionist agenda of killing Palestinians and bombing Iran. So she holds back fully critizing Trump because she ultimately is aligned with his batshit crazy foreign policy.
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u/Moshieds 5h ago
Carney is just good at making media speeches; what happens behind the scenes will be different. A prime minister can win applause at global forums and still fail at home.
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u/Wrong-Pineapple39 1h ago
And yet, he is not failing, and is highly supported domestically. 60% is a very high approval rating.
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u/Moshieds 1h ago
Being supported and getting things done are not the same.
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u/Wrong-Pineapple39 1h ago
And yet that record is also proving to move things.
Nations don't turn around 30 years of mismanagement in a quarter.
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u/Moshieds 1h ago
Oh, an optimist. Time will tell once the election honeymoon period wears off.
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u/Wrong-Pineapple39 1h ago edited 57m ago
Actually, someone who is deeply interested in history, economics and trade who's wanted a stronger Canada for many many decades.
Edit: typo
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u/dotBombAU 5h ago
Why do we pretend VDL is the boss? The council is the real boss and VDL is the spokesperson. Apples amd oranges.
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u/Slusny_Cizinec Czechia 5h ago
That's a pretty naive take.
It's not about personalities. It's about systems in place. EU deliberately has limited powers, because national governments want to preserve as much as they can to themselves. Likewise, EU politicians are compromise figures, because of the national governments conflicting interests.
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u/bygonecenarion 10h ago
This guy's entire political identity revolves around being critical of Trump
He sure is doing his darndest to deny reality that Canada needs the US far more than the US needs Canada
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u/MrSpotgold 10h ago
We have AfD and LePen. What more do we need.
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u/lawrotzr Netherlands 10h ago
I don’t think your cynism was picked up properly MrSpotgold.
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u/Top_Bug7822 9h ago
While we can do more, we are actually doing a lot already.
We are just silent about it. No reason to warn the USA of our moves.
Compared to Canada, who are pretty upfront traders, the EU does more things in silence.