From platinum level to the children’s table: How a multispeed Europe might work

Politico Europe · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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An EU in which different countries get different benefits appears closer than ever. By PAUL DALLISON Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO Paul Dallison writes Declassified, a weekly satirical column. A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow. “Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh. “Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.” “The Tortoise and the Hare” by Aesop It would seem that an increasing number of EU countries are fed up with being asked, “Do you ever get anywhere?” and, unlike the Tortoise in the fable, not actually winning. While the EU has traditionally sought to advance in lockstep (or at least pretend that’s the case), the idea of moving ahead with a multispeed Europe is gaining traction. Leaders meeting in the Belgian countryside for an informal retreat this month cautiously backed the idea that some reforms would have to be carried out by a smaller group of countries. “Often we move forward with the speed of the slowest,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told journalists. “The enhanced cooperation model avoids that.” In EU jargon, “enhanced cooperation” means “screw you and your objections, we’re doing this anyway.” As if to prove the point, a pre-summit breakfast meeting saw 19 of the 27 leaders turn up for wentelteefje while Spain’s Pedro Sánchez and Ireland’s Micheál Martin complained they hadn’t been invited. Martin said “I don’t get the necessity” of a private club convening separately — but he’d better get used to it. A multispeed Europe is an idea that has been long in the making — pushed by France in particular — and has been given impetus by the trigger-happy nature of U.S. President Donald Trump, who isn’t afraid to launch a military offensive before he’s polished off his first McMuffin of the morning. So we now have the E6 — Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland — meeting to discuss financial issues. Much to Keir Starmer’s chagrin, the U.K. is not in the group of six even though the E6 is also an area of East London, home to Central Park (not that one) and Flip Out! (“London E6’s Best Indoor Trampoline & Adventure Park!“). The EU loves a number-based grouping, of course. There’s the Frugal Four (Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden), a group of superheroes on a mission to get us to reuse teabags, and their sworn enemy the Visegrad Four (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary). But whereas talk on how Europe moved ahead at different speeds was dubbed “two-speed,” more levels will likely be needed, especially if new countries end up joining. So, taking inspiration from crowdfunding sites where the more you give, the more stuff you get in return, here are some membership options that the EU could offer to countries. Platinum level