site.btaReal Challenge Facing Europe Today Is Unity of Legal Order, MEP Vigenin Says

The real challenge facing Europe today is not the pace of integration, but the unity of legal order, Kristian Vigenin, MEP from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, said during a discussion on “A Two-Speed European Union. Challenges for Bulgaria” at the House of Europe in Sofia in Friday. 

In his opening remarks, Vigenin said that Europe is increasingly viewed through the prism of overlapping crises - war, uncertainty, economic and trade competition, and technological lag - which naturally raises the question of what kind of European Union citizens want to see in the coming decades. He noted that the debate on a “two-speed Europe” is just a symptom and more a political than a technical issue.

“If we begin building Europe through constant exceptions, temporary coalitions and differing standards, we risk gradually undermining what makes the Union unique: predictability, legal certainty and mutual trust,” Vigenin said. “Europe can and must be flexible, but it cannot be fragmented,” the MEP added.

He also highlighted what he described as a frequently overlooked factor behind the resilience of the European project: citizens’ sense of belonging to something more than just a market. For millions of Europeans Europe represents protection — of labour rights, social standards and human dignity, he said.

If European integration comes to be seen as a process that accelerates development in some societies while leaving others perpetually catching up, the legitimacy of the entire project would be called into question, Vigenin said. “Europe cannot be strong externally while divided internally,” he added.

He noted that Europe’s real strength lies in its capacity to reduce disparities rather than institutionalize them. Social cohesion should be viewed not as a cost but as a strategic investment in the continent’s long-term stability, he said. Competitiveness is increasingly emerging as the EU’s new strategic priority, Vigenin added.