The European Union is the most ambitious peace project in human history. 80 years without war between member states — after centuries in which Europe decimated its own population on an industrial scale.
That is no small thing. And it is treated like one in political debate.
At the same time, the EU is a bureaucratic construct attempting to unite 27 member states with different languages, legal systems, tax rates, and political cultures under one roof — producing regulations so complex that even lawyers can no longer follow them.
The Diagnosis
The EU's problem is not too much Europe. The problem is too little functioning Europe. The EU regulated the curvature of cucumbers (actually repealed in 2009) but fails at a common migration policy. The EU has a single market but 27 different tax systems. The EU has a common currency but no common fiscal policy.
The result: citizens who do not feel the benefits but do feel the bureaucracy. And populists who exploit this gap as a business model.
KIfD's Position
- Full digitalization of all EU administrative processes. An entrepreneur in Lisbon should be able to operate in Tallinn within 24 hours.
- Harmonization of corporate taxation: a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% (the OECD minimum standard, already agreed upon, never enforced).
- AI-powered translation of all EU documents in real time — not in months, as is currently the case.
- A European AI research network as a counterweight to US tech giants.
- Strengthening the European Parliament as a legislature. Less Council, more democracy.
Europe is the best idea this continent ever had. It deserves better implementation than what it is getting.