AfD wants to completely rebuild the EU: Weidel's demand in Strasbourg

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents AfD wants to completely rebuild the EU: Weidel's demand in Strasbourg.

"For me, the European Union is no longer a group of sovereign states," said Alice Weidel in English at a press conference in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. With this statement, Weidel's attack on the current institutional order of the EU begins: She questions not only the competences of the member states but describes the EU itself as a community of states that needs to be restructured.

With this, the political claim is broadly framed. The report speaks of AfD proposals for a radical reform and of a rebuilt Europe. Weidel's own words make clear that she is not looking at a single portfolio or a single EU regulation, but at the distribution of power between the European and national levels.

Weidel's main point of criticism: The Commission's right of initiative

Weidel criticizes that the indirectly elected EU Commission is the only institution able to propose Europe-wide laws. In her words, this is "a massive disruption of the system of mutual checks and democratic decision-making".

Her criticism is therefore not generally directed against "more Europe," but against a specific process: An institution operating across Europe develops rules, while the legitimacy of this process is, according to Weidel's account, insufficient. She therefore demands not managing individual areas of competence, but rolling back the competences of the EU Commission.

For the classification, it is important to explicitly attribute Weidel's assessment to her. The source documents her criticism of the Commission and her demand for more national responsibility. It provides, however, no independent examination of this criticism and no counterarguments from the European Parliament or the Commission.

The demanded return is to land with parliaments and governments

Weidel's goal is made most clear in her sentence: "That is why we say that we must rebuild the European Union, that we must return the competences to the national parliaments and governments".

This is the most concrete institutional indication in the available information. Both state levels are explicitly named: Parliaments are to receive more competences again, governments as well. Which tasks, decision-making powers, or European legal acts would be affected, however, is not mentioned in the extract.

Weidel's demand can thus be clearly described, but not yet read as a fully developed reform program. Information is missing on individual responsibilities, a procedure, a timeline, and the political majority ratios in the European Parliament.

Le Pen's counter-model: The Commission should become a "secretariat" again

A similar direction is taken by the right-national French leading politician Marine Le Pen. She had expressed herself similarly in Brussels last week. According to her account, a Europe of nations should mean that the European Commission, which according to her criticism constantly exceeds its competences, should resume the role of a "secretariat" in the service of the nations.

The overlap lies in the rejection of an independent European leadership. In terms of design, however, the images differ: Weidel speaks of returning competences to national parliaments and governments, Le Pen of the secretariat for the nations. The source also points to polls according to which Marine Le Pen has chances of winning the next French presidential election.

A clear claim, but no implementation roadmap yet

My assessment: Weidel's initiative is to be classified as a fundamental reorganization of EU competences, not as a detailed announcement. The strongest counter-argument against an overly cautious assessment lies in the fact that Weidel describes both a specific gap in the institutional structure and a clearly named goal. Le Pen additionally provides an illustrative role model with the secretariat for a Commission that serves the nation-states instead of independently proposing Europe-wide laws.

The limits of the extract remain clear nonetheless. It mentions no exact date of the appearance, no individual reform steps, and no reactions from the European Parliament, the EU Commission, or other political actors. "Complete restructuring" therefore describes the documented political claim. How far it should reach in practice is left open by the present report extract.