Von der Leyen: EU moves to curb national vetoes after Orbán’s defeat

Less than 48 hours after Hungary’s dramatic change in government, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has reignited one of the most divisive institutional debates in Brussels: whether EU member states should lose their veto power in foreign and security policy.

Speaking after the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule, von der Leyen argued that the political shift in Hungary offers a “historic opportunity” to tackle one of the European Union’s most persistent structural problems: repeated deadlocks caused by the unanimity rule.

At present, any member state can block decisions on foreign affairs, enlargement, budget matters and certain sovereignty-related issues. Under Orbán, Hungary frequently used this right, most notably in relation to sanctions against Russia and, more recently, by holding up a EUR 90 billion loan package intended to support Ukraine.

For years, Brussels has viewed Hungary as the most frequent user of the veto mechanism, often frustrating attempts by the other 26 member states to present a united front on key geopolitical issues.

Von der Leyen’s long-standing campaign returns

The Commission chief’s latest intervention is far from new. According to L’Express, since taking office in 2019, von der Leyen has repeatedly called on member states to replace unanimity with qualified majority voting (QMV), particularly in foreign policy.

Her position has remained consistent: Europe’s decision-making process, she argues, has become too vulnerable to systemic paralysis.

In her State of the Union speech last September, she declared that it was time for the bloc to “free itself from the shackles of unanimity”. On Monday, 13 April, she renewed that appeal, describing QMV in foreign policy as “an important tool to avoid systemic deadlocks, as we have seen in the past”.

The timing is highly symbolic. With Orbán no longer in office, supporters of reform believe the EU may have its best chance in years to revisit a question that has repeatedly stalled.

Smaller states remain wary of losing influence

Despite renewed momentum from Brussels, the proposal is deeply divisive.

For smaller member states, the veto is often seen as the ultimate safeguard of national sovereignty. Countries such as Malta and Cyprus have historically viewed unanimity as essential to ensuring their voices cannot simply be overridden by larger powers.

Many governments are reluctant to surrender control over foreign policy, fearing they could be forced to accept positions directly at odds with their national interests.

This is why, even among strongly pro-EU capitals, enthusiasm for sweeping reform is uneven.

France and Germany back reform, but divisions persist

Europe’s larger member states have generally been more supportive of expanding qualified majority voting.

French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly argued that majority voting is necessary if Europe is to avoid appearing weak and bureaucratically paralysed. Germany went a step further in 2023 by launching the “Friends of Qualified Majority Voting” group, joined by Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.

Yet the initiative quickly lost momentum.

Even among its supporters, there is no clear agreement on where majority voting should apply. Some governments support extending it to taxation, while being cautious about foreign policy. Others want a larger institutional overhaul.

That lack of consensus has prevented the debate from turning into meaningful treaty reform.

The EU’s fundamental paradox

The greatest obstacle to ending the veto may be the rule itself.

Under current EU treaties, moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting would itself require unanimous approval from all member states.

In other words, the EU would need every government — including those most determined to keep the veto — to agree to abolish it.

That paradox has long frustrated reformers in Brussels, and despite Hungary’s political transformation, it’s still unclear whether von der Leyen can translate renewed political momentum into concrete change.

Still, with one of the most prominent veto-wielding governments now out of the picture, the debate is set to return to the centre of Europe’s political agenda.