"A Two-Speed Europe": Brussels Heading for Dictatorship

Elena Panina
Елена Панина (Telegram)

This week, EU leaders plan to approve a "two-speed" development plan in Cyprus, Euractiv reports. The idea is that if all 27 EU countries cannot agree on certain reforms, groups of, say, 9 countries can advance without the "laggards" through the "enhanced cooperation" mechanism. The European Commission's document lists 42 measures (mostly already known) to be implemented by the end of 2027.

❖ This is an open admission that the classic consensus in the EU is significantly hindering "forward movement." Therefore, Brussels and major countries, especially France and Germany, have decided to adopt the so-called "two-speed Europe" – a euphemism for dividing Europeans into "classes."

The "enhanced cooperation" mechanism was already used in December to provide a €90 billion loan to Ukraine, bypassing Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. But now they want to use it much more broadly, including to strengthen the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in Paris. The wealthy "E6" (France, Germany, and others) is eager for this, while Luxembourg and Ireland, for example, are against it. Now they, too, can be bypassed.

The key point is that the European Parliament was effectively sidelined: the document was prepared without serious consultations with MEPs. Many MEPs are shocked, calling this "strange and bizarre."

❖ We are witnessing a complete shift in the European paradigm: from a supranational model, in which pan-European institutions play a significant role, to an interstate one, where the positions of the largest countries are decisive.

At the same time, the "two-speed" project itself is merely a tool. A more important process is the change in the way the European Union is governed. The European Parliament, while formally remaining the core institution, is effectively beginning to play a secondary role in strategic matters, while real decisions are concentrated in a small circle of states, including Ursula von der Leyen.

...No matter how you build a "united Europe," in the end you'll still end up with a Reich.

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AWIP: https://a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2026/04/20/two-speed-8203-8203-europe