Twenty-seven countries share a market, a court, a budget and, for most of them, a currency. They disagree over how much more to share. The Union's institutions and most governments hold that Europe's nations are too small to face Russia, China and an unfriendly America alone, and that common rules need common enforcement. National-conservative parties, now first or second in the polls in much of the continent, hold that power has moved to Brussels without the consent of voters and must move back. The argument is fought over migration, money, courts, and who may govern with whom.
Where it stands · September 2026
The Alternative for Germany won the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September, the strongest party but short of an absolute majority. On 8 September CDU leader Friedrich Merz said he would stay on as party leader. The CDU won local elections in Lower Saxony on 14 September, with the Alternative for Germany third. Berlin held a state election on 18 September with the SPD, the Alternative for Germany and the Linke in a close race. In France the far right gained seats in the Senate elections on 28 September.
What the dispute is about
Who has the last word. Union law overrides national law, and the Union's court decides what Union law covers. Several national constitutional courts dispute that. So do governments that lose there.
Money with conditions. Since 2020 the Union can withhold funds from a member whose courts or spending controls it judges unsound. To one side that protects the taxpayer. To the other it is a way to punish governments Brussels dislikes.
The firewall. In Germany, France and the European Parliament the established parties refuse to govern with the national-conservative right. In Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Finland that refusal has ended. Whether exclusion defends democracy or denies it is argued in every country where the question arises.
