Europe

EU treaty change: Will the vision of a super-regulator stand up to political reality?

A perfect storm of pandemic, climate crisis and the rise of authoritarianism is forcing sweeping changes to the European project. But are member states ready to unpick treaties and overrule the single-country veto?

Emmanuel Macron, president of France: preparing EU proposals for an official convention on treaty change. Picture: Shutterstock

Fifty years ago last week, Ireland held the first of many Europe-related referendums to join what was then a six-membered bloc called the European Communities (EC).

At the signing of the Treaty of Accession in Brussels in 1972 a few months before the referendum, then taoiseach Jack Lynch admitted that change would be difficult for the bloc, but said it would ultimately be beneficial to all members.

“My government are convinced that the Irish parliament ...