"That which concerns everyone must also be discussed and approved by everyone"
About this Quote
A neat little grenade wrapped in procedural language, Verhofstadt's line flatters democracy while quietly moving the goalposts. "That which concerns everyone" sounds commonsensical until you realize how expansive it is in modern politics: climate policy, migration, trade, digital regulation, war on Europe's borders. If everything concerns everyone, then legitimacy requires an unusually high bar of participation and consent. That's the point. Verhofstadt, a quintessential EU federalist and veteran of Belgium's coalitional labyrinth, is arguing that sovereignty can no longer be a national solo act.
The intent is twofold. On the surface, it's a moral claim about fairness: decisions with broad impact should not be made by insulated elites. Underneath, it's a power argument aimed at the architecture of Europe. "Discussed and approved by everyone" reads like a rebuke to backroom summits, veto theatrics, and technocratic governance by default. It also presses member states into an uncomfortable mirror: if they demand democratic legitimacy at the EU level, they can't treat the Union as a convenient scapegoat while keeping real choices at home.
The subtext carries risk, and Verhofstadt knows it. Universal approval is an aspirational standard that can slide into paralysis; "everyone" is the word populists weaponize to delegitimize institutions and experts. Yet the phrasing is strategic: it reframes integration not as bureaucratic creep but as democratic maturation. In an era when policy externalities leap borders instantly, he insists that the demos has to scale up too - or governance will keep drifting into either technocracy or nationalist obstruction.
The intent is twofold. On the surface, it's a moral claim about fairness: decisions with broad impact should not be made by insulated elites. Underneath, it's a power argument aimed at the architecture of Europe. "Discussed and approved by everyone" reads like a rebuke to backroom summits, veto theatrics, and technocratic governance by default. It also presses member states into an uncomfortable mirror: if they demand democratic legitimacy at the EU level, they can't treat the Union as a convenient scapegoat while keeping real choices at home.
The subtext carries risk, and Verhofstadt knows it. Universal approval is an aspirational standard that can slide into paralysis; "everyone" is the word populists weaponize to delegitimize institutions and experts. Yet the phrasing is strategic: it reframes integration not as bureaucratic creep but as democratic maturation. In an era when policy externalities leap borders instantly, he insists that the demos has to scale up too - or governance will keep drifting into either technocracy or nationalist obstruction.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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