AfD co-leader Alice Weidel proposes EU overhaul into a federation of sovereign nations, with a German exit vote if substantial reforms fail

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel presented a strategy paper in Strasbourg proposing that the European Union become a loose federation of sovereign nations. It also says Germans should decide whether to leave the bloc if an AfD-led government cannot secure “substantial changes.”

The paper, titled “Sovereign Nations, a Common Europe,” would end direct elections to the European Parliament, with national parliaments appointing MEPs instead. It would remove the European Commission’s sole right to propose laws and leave it with an administrative role, make the European Council the main decision-making body and replace the European Court of Justice with an arbitration tribunal.

“The EU is not a group of sovereign states any more,” Weidel said, arguing that “national parliaments and governments need to take over the decision-making process.” The paper also calls for deep cuts to the EU budget, a “fundamental overhaul” of the euro, and the reversal of net-zero targets and the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

If an AfD-led government cannot achieve substantial changes, the paper says, “the German people should then decide for themselves which path Germany should take”—a possible referendum on leaving the EU, or “Dexit.” The approach marks a shift from the AfD’s earlier open support for leaving the bloc, with Germany’s 2029 election in view. Mainstream EU figures rejected the plan as unworkable.