Note: This text is purely a construct of ideas and a thought experiment – not a finished constitutional draft, but an impulse for further thinking.
Europe does not have a leadership problem. It has a design problem.
Ursula von der Leyen is not the problem. The system that produced her is the problem. Appointed, not elected. Accountable to bodies that nobody can name. A face without a mandate.
That is not a communication problem. That is how it is written in the treaties.
Who Do You Call
Henry Kissinger asked it fifty years ago: What number do I dial when I want to call Europe?
The question is still unanswered today. Putin doesn’t know. Xi doesn’t know. Washington doesn’t know — and exploits the ambiguity.
A continent of 450 million people, the largest single market in the world, whispers at the table of the great powers. Not because it has nothing to say. But because nobody knows whose voice counts.
That is the real weakness. Not the size. Not the languages. The missing face.
The Model
Seven. A government of seven, elected for four years. From among them comes the President — for one year each, rotating.
(Elected by whom – directly by the citizens, by the European Parliament, or by a joint assembly? Quite honestly, I have no idea, and I deliberately leave that question open in this construct of ideas.)
Not from the outside. Not as a surprise candidate. Rather, someone who knows the system, who has already earned trust, who knows the other six.
One speaks to the outside world. Military. Foreign policy. One voice. One mandate. The clock ticks — one year, then it is the next one’s turn.
That is not weak. That is precise.
Seven has its own logic here: a clear majority is always possible. Small enough for collegiality. Large enough for diversity. And over four years, almost everyone gets a turn. Europe would have four different faces to the outside world — from different countries, different traditions. Unity with rotation.
Almost Roman-republican.
Parliament as a Buffer
Parties and Parliament do not disappear. They have their place — and it is important.
Domestic policy. Legislation. Budget. Oversight of the Council of Seven. They can remove it. They can question it. They are the living contradiction that lets the system breathe.
But war and peace, alliances and sanctions — one person decides that. With a mandate. Under time pressure. With consequence.
That is no contradiction to democracy. That is democracy that works.
The Citizen Last — and First
On the big questions, the people vote. New members. Treaty changes. Fundamental rights issues. Not as an exception. As the norm.
Whoever has voted themselves can no longer feel the result is foreign. That is the only path to genuine legitimacy. Not communication campaigns. Not explainer videos. Real decision-making.
That means more responsibility. More explanation. More patience.
And in the end: more Europe.
The Objections
Too complex. Too idealistic. Who is supposed to implement that?
Those are engineering problems. Solvable — if the political will is there. The questions of vote weighting, division of powers, term limits are real. They are not unsolvable.
The Swiss model has existed since 1848. Seven Federal Councillors, a rotating President, direct democracy at its core. It works. Not because the Swiss are special people. But because the construction is sound.
Europe could build the same thing. Larger. With real teeth.
The Difference
Europe 1.0 brought peace. That is no small thing. That is the greatest thing.
But peace alone is no longer enough as an argument. The generation that still knew the war is dying. The next one needs another reason.
Europe 2.0 gives it one: democracy you can feel. Leadership you can see. Decisions you make yourself.
Don’t wait until the next shock comes.
Think ahead.
By René Jochum - LLM Translated. License: CC-BY-4.0.