{"id":26786,"date":"2026-03-27T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/?p=26786"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:13:29","slug":"more-europe-now-with-reinier-van-lanschot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/more-europe-now-with-reinier-van-lanschot\/","title":{"rendered":"More Europe, now"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ccfic\"><span class=\"ccfic-text\">More Europe, now: demands Dutch MEP Reinier von Lanschot.<\/span><\/div>\n\n<p><strong>Dutch MEP Reinier van Lanschot calls for more speed, more democracy and more independence for Europe. In an interview with Philippe S\u00e9jalon from <a href=\"https:\/\/ingage.institute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">INGAGE<\/a>, it becomes clear that the time for hesitant integration is over, as geopolitical pressure is forcing the EU to act. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Reinier_van_Lanschot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Van Lanschot<\/a> argues soberly: European defense is not a vision, but a necessity. The war in Ukraine and the growing uncertainty about the role of the USA have created a new security environment. Europe must be able to protect itself with its own satellites, intelligence services and military capabilities.  <\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The United States of Europe? \u2014 Member of the European Parliament, Reinier Van Lanschot\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bQusd2v8fbY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>He considers the debate about whether to call it a &#8220;European army&#8221; or something else to be of secondary importance. The decisive factor is operational autonomy. He sees the growing support for this &#8211; both politically and among the population &#8211; as a turning point.  <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Democracy under digital pressure<\/h6>\n\n<p>At the same time, van Lanschot sees Europe&#8217;s democracies under massive pressure. Disinformation and foreign influence have long since reached a new level. Millions of coordinated posts on social networks are no longer a marginal phenomenon, but part of geopolitical strategies.  <\/p>\n\n<p>His antidote is remarkable: less technology, more society. An active citizenry is the strongest defense. Those who interfere, disagree and get politically involved stabilize democracy more effectively than any regulation alone.  <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Media as strategic infrastructure<\/h6>\n\n<p>Against this backdrop, van Lanschot brings up an idea that is also relevant for Switzerland: a European public broadcaster. The aim would not be propaganda, but a common, credible information base that transcends national perspectives. <\/p>\n\n<p>Quality journalism can play a stabilizing role, especially in fragmented digital public spheres. For media companies, including in Switzerland, this is a strategic question: how can trust be maintained in an algorithmically controlled world of information? <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Data protection remains European DNA<\/h6>\n\n<p>When it comes to the tension between security and privacy, van Lanschot draws a clear line. Europe should neither follow the data-driven US model nor the control-oriented Chinese approach. Data protection is a locational advantage and a democratic principle.  <\/p>\n\n<p>He rejects measures such as blanket surveillance of private communications. Interventions are only acceptable on a selective basis, clearly limited by law and subject to judicial control. Security should not lead to a systemic erosion of fundamental rights.  <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The structural problem of the EU<\/h6>\n\n<p>His harshest point of criticism concerns the EU&#8217;s decision-making mechanism. The right of veto of individual states blocks central progress from security policy to climate protection. In a world of growing crises, this structure is no longer sustainable.  <\/p>\n\n<p>For a country with close economic ties like Switzerland, this is more than just an internal EU debate. Europe&#8217;s ability to act directly determines stability, regulation and market conditions throughout the continent. <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More integration, more legitimacy<\/h6>\n\n<p>Van Lanschot thinks further: more European integration must go hand in hand with more democratic legitimacy. The EU is democratic, but not democratic enough for the scope of its decisions. <\/p>\n\n<p>His vision of a more integrated Union is aimed at precisely this point: being able to make decisions more quickly and having broader legitimacy. For export-oriented economies such as Switzerland, this indirectly raises the question of how close they want to remain to a deepening Europe. <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Security, climate and prosperity are linked<\/h6>\n\n<p>His link between security, climate and social stability is particularly relevant for economic policy debates. Defense spending is not an alternative to investments in education or climate protection, but a prerequisite for these to remain possible at all. <\/p>\n\n<p>His proposal: joint European financing via capital markets instead of national austerity programs. There is a clear logic behind this, as stability is the basis for sustainable growth. <\/p>\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Europe&#8217;s next step<\/h6>\n\n<p>Van Lanschot&#8217;s short-term demand is concrete: the abolition of the veto. His long-term goal is more ambitious: a more united, more capable Europe. <\/p>\n\n<p>For Switzerland, as for the insurance industry, this development means one thing above all: the strategic importance of the EU will continue to grow. Those who understand European integration also understand the future of their own economic and political scope for action. <\/p>\n\n<p>Binci Heeb<\/p>\n\n<p>Read and listen to: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/europes-wake-up-call-general-trinquand-on-risks-defense-and-values\/\">Europe&#8217;s wake-up call: General Trinquand on risks, defense and values<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dutch MEP Reinier van Lanschot calls for more speed, more democracy and more independence for Europe. In an interview with Philippe S\u00e9jalon from INGAGE, it becomes clear that the time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5100,5134,5138,5101],"tags":[5638,11081,7065,6229,11083,11085,6138,11082,6422,11084],"class_list":["post-26786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-general","category-interviews-en","category-video-en","tag-climate","tag-democracy","tag-eu-en","tag-europe-en","tag-european-army","tag-legitimization","tag-necessity","tag-satellites","tag-security","tag-structural-problem","ownarticle"],"acf":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"More Europe, now: demands Dutch MEP Reinier von Lanschot.","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26787,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26786\/revisions\/26787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}