11 EU countries call for measures to overcome veto obstruction in foreign policy: Report

Eleven European Union countries have called for measures to address what they described as the excessive use of vetoes on foreign and security policy issues, proposing a five-point "handbook" to improve decision-making within the bloc, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Tuesday.

Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden submitted a non-paper to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the other EU member states ahead of an informal Foreign Affairs Council meeting Wednesday.

The document, seen by ANSA, outlines five principles aimed at preventing what the countries described as "obstructionist behaviour" in EU foreign and security policy.

One of the proposals calls for the EU to "increasingly resort to constructive abstentions" to prevent individual member states from blocking decisions.

The countries also referred to the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in the EU treaties, urging member states not to obstruct decisions by linking them to issues that are "essentially unrelated to the subject matter."

They further called on countries to avoid raising objections limited only to specific aspects of a proposal in a way that could prevent the EU from reaching a decision.

The document also encourages Kallas to explore options available under the EU treaties to improve decision-making in foreign and security policy, including possible proposals by the foreign policy chief in accordance with the treaties.

In cases where a decision on foreign or security policy is subject to qualified majority voting, the document addresses the right of member states to object on "vital and declared reasons of national policy."

The 11 countries said such reasons should be "set out in detail" to allow meaningful consultations and facilitate efforts to find solutions acceptable to all member states.

The non-paper was also circulated to the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.