The European Union stands at a crossroads, caught between two extremes threatening its future. On one side are nationalists like Donald Trump and their European counterparts – from Marine Le Pen in France to Viktor Orbán in Hungary – who dream of returning to an era of closed borders and dismantling the European project. For them, the EU is an enemy of sovereignty, a bureaucratic monster stifling national identity. On the other side is the European aristocracy – ruling politicians and unelected bureaucrats in Brussels – who want to turn the Union into a centralized superstate, a kind of European empire under their control.
Both approaches lead to failure. Instead of destruction or excessive centralization, the EU needs reform that will bring it back to its core values: freedom, free markets, and economic progress.
Let’s first look at this “aristocracy.” For decades, European leaders and bureaucrats have built a system that increasingly resembles a self-service shop for their own interests. The COVID pandemic was a clear example: hundreds of billions of euros were spent on recovery programs, vaccine procurement, and other measures – but where was the transparency? How much of that money ended up in the pockets of well-connected entrepreneurs and lobbyists, and how much actually helped citizens? Now, under the guise of “defense” and geopolitical tensions, they’re trying to pull the same trick again – “investments” that sound noble but often serve to fund political allies and expand their own power.
The result? Europeans are growing poorer while the elite and their cronies enrich themselves at taxpayers’ expense.
On the other hand, nationalists offer a false solution. Their recipe for Europe – a return to the 19th century with hard borders and protectionism – forgets that it was cooperation within the EU that enabled decades of peace and economic growth. Trump’s “America First” approach may resonate in the U.S., but applied to Europe, it would lead to fragmentation, trade wars, and vulnerability to global challenges such as China, Russian imperialism, or climate change. Nationalism is not the answer; it’s an illusion selling a nostalgic past instead of a realistic future.
So, what’s the solution? The EU doesn’t need to be dismantled or turned into a unified state. It needs reform – to become leaner, more effective, and citizen-focused, not elite-focused. That means less bureaucracy and more freedom for entrepreneurs and innovators. Instead of Brussels picking market winners with public money – through subsidies or questionable “investments” – the focus must shift to creating conditions for free economic growth. Reducing regulations, cutting taxes, and decentralizing decision-making would return power to where it belongs: the people, not the aristocracy.
Here are six reforms that would save the European Union:
1. Reduce Bureaucracy and Regulatory Burdens
The EU has become synonymous with endless regulations that stifle entrepreneurship and innovation. According to the European Commission, small and medium-sized enterprises – which make up 99% of all businesses in the EU and employ two-thirds of the workforce – often spend up to 30% of their time and resources complying with bureaucratic rules. Reform means reviewing and eliminating unnecessary regulations, especially those overlapping with national laws. For example, why should farmers or tech companies comply with dozens of EU directives when a simple, unified framework would suffice? The goal is a “regulatory minimum” – only what’s necessary for the single market to function, without excessive interference.
2. Decentralization and Returning Power to Member States
The European aristocracy in Brussels often makes decisions without understanding local needs. The principle of subsidiarity – that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level – exists on paper but is rarely applied. Reform would strengthen the role of national governments and parliaments in key areas like social policy, healthcare, and education, while the EU would retain authority only where a common approach makes sense: trade, border security, and the eurozone’s monetary policy. This would reduce the power of unelected bureaucrats and restore democratic accountability closer to the citizens.
3. End the “Picking Winners” Policy
The EU has a bad habit of spending public money on projects that benefit politically connected players. Take the COVID recovery funds: €750 billion from the NextGenerationEU plan often ended up in the hands of large corporations or politically favored sectors instead of being evenly distributed to stimulate real economic growth. A similar pattern is emerging with new defense “investments” – under the pretext of the Russian threat, money flows to the military-industrial complex, often without a clear strategy or oversight. Reform would eliminate such programs and replace them with tax relief and deregulation, letting the market – not bureaucrats – decide who succeeds and who doesn’t.
4. Transparency and Accountability for Elites
The European aristocracy – from Commission members to lobbyists swarming the halls of Brussels – often operates behind closed doors. Vaccine procurement during the pandemic was shrouded in secrecy, with contracts full of redacted pages and billions spent without public scrutiny. Reform demands full transparency: all contracts, spending, and decisions must be publicly available, with strict audits by independent bodies. Also, the terms of officials like the Commission President or ECB President should be limited to prevent concentration of power and the rise of lifelong “aristocrats.”
5. Focus on Economic Growth and Freedom
The EU was founded as a community for economic cooperation, not as a political experiment. Today, however, economic goals often take a back seat to ideological projects like the Green Deal, which imposes costly obligations with unclear benefits for competitiveness. Reform would refocus on the single market: removing remaining trade barriers within the EU, encouraging innovation through tax incentives instead of subsidies, and signing free trade agreements with global partners. For example, why not accelerate negotiations with South America or Asia instead of raising tariffs and protecting inefficient domestic industries?
6. Reform EU Financing
The current EU budget – about 1% of the member states’ GDP – is often spent on agricultural subsidies (favoring large landowners) or regional funds that end up in corruption schemes. Reform would reduce the budget and redirect it toward shared priorities like R&D or infrastructure, under strict control. Member state contributions could be lowered if the EU stopped funding bureaucratic fantasies like “strategic autonomy,” which only drive up costs.
Why Would This Work?
This approach avoids the trap of nationalism – preserving the benefits of a single market and cooperation – while dismantling the power of an aristocracy that impoverishes Europeans. Instead of Brussels deciding how your money is spent, you – the citizens, entrepreneurs, innovators – would get the space to create wealth. This is the EU as it was meant to be: an ally of freedom, not a burden on your back.
Europe must not become either a battleground of nationalist egos or a playground for bureaucratic experiments. A reformed EU can be a space of freedom, prosperity, and cooperation – but only if we change our mindset and remove those who treat public funds as their private ATM.
It’s time to reset our priorities: less aristocracy, more market.
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