Should Your Business Be Worried About The Future of the European Union?
There’s one issue that’s been on the minds of a lot of political pundits, a lot of observers, and anyone who is interested in European issues in a broader sense.
And that question is a philosophical one:
what is the future of the European Union?
Is it really going to remain a relevant governmental, regulatory and policy driver in the future or is there really a risk that the European Union might fall apart.
I think it’s vastly exaggerated to think that the European Union,
as such, would fall apart.
The big question is what powers will remain on European (or dare I say, “federal”) level, and which are issues and policies that are going to be re-nationalized, where EU member states (the 28 of them) will have more powers to actually decide on those issues.
There is growing debate as to whether more integration is the way to go or
whether certain member states, or all member states at large,
should be given certain powers.
This [European vs. national power] is the dynamic today that is really going to define the next years or even decades. The constant struggle whether immigration or asylum should really be decided on the European level, or should be nationalized. Or issues related to foreign policy: is there going to be a European foreign policy or not.
But when it comes to regulation of environmental standards or noise emissions, all the way to spectrum allocation for various technological devices, so
the classic “business-facing” regulatory side of the
European Union is there to stay
That’s not going to change and it is going to be just as relevant as ever, if not even more so.