As if having elected
representatives and political parties in the European Parliament were not
enough evidence that the E.U. has been a political union all along, the distinctly
political role of the E.U. with regard to Ukraine amid the Russian
invasion renders the E.U. political not merely institutionally in regard to representative
democracy, which is a political rather than an economic system. Also, that the
European Commission has exclusive competency on trade does not eclipse the
union’s distinctly political activity. That the E.U. agreed to move forward
informally with Ukraine’s accession request even though the state of Hungary
was formally vetoing the accession demonstrates a political function or role of
the European Union.
The full essay is at "The E.U."