It is ironic that even though
European political theorists, including Immanuel Kant, Johannes Althusius, and
Kenneth Wheare, made substantial contributions on the topic of federalism, even
political leaders in the E.U. as late as 2025 were stumbling over the basics,
getting the very concept wrong. Unfortunately, that has caused journalists to
trip and fall too, leaving E.U. citizens grappling over the apparent problem of
being citizens both of their state and the E.U. even though, according to
former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi spoke in 2025 in favor of “’pragmatic
federalism’ as the political conditions for a true, federal union do not exist
in the E.U. at the moment.”[1]
The claims that “pragmatic federalism” is somehow not indicative of “true”
federalism, and, moreover, that somehow the E.U. has states that are
semi-sovereign (as the E.U. itself has exclusive competences) and yet federalism
does not apply are patently absurd. Draghi was confusing the politics of the
moment, in which the anti-federalist, Euroskeptic ideology was still too
powerful for more governmental sovereignty to be moved to the federal level
from the states, with whether the E.U. had a federal system already. In other
words, “political conditions” are distinct from whether the E.U. has a federal
system of public governance. Draghi’s assertion is all the more astounding not
only because of his governmental experience at the federal level, but also
because the dual-sovereignty (of the states and the Union) means that the E.U.
fits within the category of modern federalism rather than confederalism (using
Wheare’s terminology). Europeans have quite understandably been confused in
trying to classify the E.U. away from the pull of the anti-federalist ideology
in Europe.
The full essay is at "On the E.U.'s 'Pragmatic' Federalism."
1. Sandor Zsiros, “The EU Wants to End the Era of National Vetoes—But It’s Complicated,” Euronews.com, 23 December, 2025.