“Due to its geographic position, Hungary is thrust into the mainstream of European battles once every 30 years. This is how it was in 1956, in 1989 and in 2015-16”. This was a statement made by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Munich at a commemoration of the 1956 revolution held in the Bavarian parliament. What’s also common in these dates is that they also have significance in the life of the European Union. In 1957 Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) and established a customs union. Just three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Maastricht Treaty was signed, which basically created the European Union. Only history will be able to tell how Europe responds this time, but if you think that what’s going on right now is about some countries welcoming refugees while others say no to migration, I believe that you are wrong. The debate right now is about the future of the EU. More specifically whether it will become a United States of Europe or a union of nations with as few rights federalised as possible. Many believe that the right solution for Europe would be to follow the American model, but they graciously forget about the fact that there are plenty of areas governed by state laws rather than federal ones. In fact the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution declares that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”. The debate about limiting or extending the powers of the federal government still continues today in America, and although they speak the same language, they have been at it for more than 200 years now. There certainly are areas where nations of Europe should and must give up rights in order for the EU to work, but federalisation is definitely not the answer to all of the challenges facing the continent right now.
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