AfD's Alice Weidel to unveil plan to cut EU powers — report

Alice Weidel, the co-leader of Germany's far-right AfD, is expected to present her party's policy for the EU at the European Parliament on Wednesday. 

According to a report from news outlet Politico, the AfD policy paper on the EU does not seek to exit the bloc or the eurozone at first. 

The party rather wants to downsize the EU's powers and budget.

What's in the AfD policy paper?

Instead of direct European Parliament elections, the AfD would like to see delegates appointed by national parliaments.

The AfD would also limit the scope of the European Commission to purely administrative tasks and supplant the European Court of Justice with an arbitration tribunal.     

The far right party would threaten to slash Germany's contributions to the EU budget.

Germany under the AfD would seek exemptions from EU regulations regarding issues such as migration and social policy. The AfD may also seek opt-outs of other areas such as agriculture and financial policies.  

If the EU would not bend to the AfD's demands for reform, the party would then seek a German referendum on EU membership. 

A referendum would be unrealistic, as it would require a constitutional amendment to the German Basic Law to take place. An amendment would require a two-thirds majority vote in both the Bundestag and upper house Bundesrat — an extremely high threshold to meet.      

AfD eyes victory in next federal elections in 2029

The AfD hopes that it can implement its EU policies in 2029, when the next German and European elections will take place.

Recent German federal election surveys show the AfD in first place but it would have to form a coalition with another partner to establish a ruling majority government. That's difficult when other parties such as the conservative Christian Democratic Union refuse to have any cooperation with the AfD as part of a "firewall" policy.    

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

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