The Scent of Wild Animals

Today, 31 August 2021, Sophie in 't Veld MEP released her book "The Scent of Wild Animals". You can read it on issuu.com through the link

While Europe is facing huge challenges that require strong political leadership and the ability to act, it is increasingly paralysed by its outdated  intergovernmental governance method. On the surface things seem to work fine, but look deeper, and the corrosion becomes visible. Intergovernmental Europe is incapable of providing adequate responses to issues like migration, rule of law backsliding or geopolitical challenges. The old incremental approach, designed for a bygone world, is wholly unsuitable for the world of today. Yet paradoxically, the EU is becoming more, not less intergovernmental.

The EU urgently needs to transform into a fully-fledged parliamentary democracy, built on checks and balances and a clear separation of powers. Only the European Parliament can bring about this much-needed transformation. Parliament should not only be a good legislator, but also a true democratic watchdog, fully using all its parliamentary powers. Change will not happen all by itself, Parliament will have to make it happen. It has a historic duty to show leadership and challenge the status quo. Parliament has to be the beating heart of European democracy. It will be the political arena, with the scent of wild animals, sweat and saw dust, the battleground for political ideas and political big beasts.