In what was perhaps the most significant speech made by a Polish foreign minister in the last decade, Radosław Sikorski on Monday proposed the creation of a European federation whose members' national sovereignty would be limited in order to allow the powers and efficiency of existing European institutions to be enhanced. His reason? That this would be the only way to ensure Europe could adequately face up to the difficult challenges that it faces.

Prior to the speech he said to journalists in Poland that European Union countries should “have as much autonomy as have US states.”

In his speech Mr Sikorski proposed increasing the powers of the European Commission, reducing the number of commissioners and electing a number of seats in the European Parliament from a pan-European list of candidates.

He also said that the positions of president of the European Council and European Commission should be combined, with the holder of the new office possibly being elected by citizens.

Mr Sikorski ended his speech by appealing to Germany, where he delivered his address, to embrace a leadership role and save the euro zone. “You know nobody else can do it,” he said.

He added that he would be the first Polish foreign minister to say he “feared German power less than German inactivity.”

Nationalist backlash

As could have been predicted, Mr Sikorski's speech caused an uproar in Poland among right-wing politicians, with one Law and Justice (PiS) member saying the minister wants a “German fourth Reich,” and others saying he was giving up the country's sovereignty.

In response, Mr Sikorski asked PiS to present its own plan to save Europe.

Poland's foreign minister knows that PiS has no plan when it comes to Europe; all it offers is nationalist slogans such as “patriotism,” and “sovereignty.”

Inevitably, many Poles will see Mr Sikorski's words as akin to subservience towards Germany, but these are the same people who equate pragmatism in foreign relations with amorality or even worse, treason.

While all Poles want to continue enjoying the benefits of EU membership, especially the generous funds the country receives (in significant part from German taxpayers' pockets), some are susceptible to the arguments of politicians who are vocal about protecting Polish interests while doing absolutely nothing tangible about it.

It would be interesting to see what these same Poles would opt for if they were faced with the choice of a more federalist EU and continued generous structural funds or a looser, less-integrated EU with a “fend for yourself” policy.

Radek Sikorski

It is important to note that Mr Sikorski is no natural-born Germanophile.

This is the same man who a few years ago likened the Nord-Stream gas-pipe deal between Germany and Russia to a new Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Radosław Sikorski even served as defense minister in the ultra conservative PiS-led government, before switching to Civic Platform – the current senior coalition partner in Poland's government. His reason for making the switch, in my opinion, stemmed from his realization that PiS was becoming politically impotent, despite being in government.

A start, maybe

Of course, it is not the foreign minister of Poland who will decide which direction Europe takes but Mr Sikorski's speech could lay the groundwork for a serious discussion about what Europe needs to do to survive. In the end the argument he makes, that Europe either needs to integrate further or risk disintegration, seems irrefutable. Inertia is no longer a viable option in the current reality.