Summary
The EU's member-state veto was a core promise used to build the bloc, but Brussels has steadily weakened it; the latest Russia-sanctions fight—with Greece blocking a package to protect a shipping tycoon—has officials planning to bypass vetoes with smaller sanction batches. This dysfunction points to a sharper EU winter gas crunch and, in Doomberg's view, a much nearer end for the EU than markets expect, raising European political and energy risk.
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•The EU was sold to members on a promise of veto power, but Brussels has steadily expanded 'minor' decisions and central-planner latitude to hollow out that veto.
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•The 21st Russia sanctions package required watering down, and the prospects for a 22nd package are dim.
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•Greece held up a large package of EU sanctions to protect a shipping tycoon, according to the Financial Times.
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•EU officials are now weighing individual or small thematic sanction batches so member states have fewer chances to use vetoes.
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•With Viktor Orbán's electoral defeat, the EU can no longer blame him for disunity, and the damage to national interests is now exposed.
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•Doomberg says the sanctions dysfunction points to an upcoming winter gas crunch for the EU and that the bloc's final days are far closer than most models assume.