The President of the European Commission is calling for the establishment of a federation of nation states.
This morning José -Manuel Barroso said such a federation was necessary for a deep and genuine economic, monetary and political union.
He was making a State of the Union address to the European Parliament.
Mr. Barroso unveiled his priorities for the near future in the address which is seen as the highlight of the September plenary which started on Monday.
The focus of the speech was on the crisis and the need for a growth oriented long-term EU budget.
The President also went into detail of his plans for a federation of nation states and the necessary treaty change.
“Let’s not be afraid of the words: we will need to move towards a federation of nation states” he said.
“This is what we need. This is our political horizon. This is what must guide our work in the years to come”.
“Today, I call for a federation of nation states” he added.
However he also stressed that this was not a call for a superstate.
But he admitted any such change will require changes to EU treaties.
“Creating this federation of nation states will ultimately require a new Treaty. I do not say this lightly” he continued.
“We are all aware how difficult treaty change has become. It has to be well prepared”.
“Discussions on treaty change must not distract or delay us from doing what can and must be done already today” he concluded.
He said such a federation would have a coherent defence and common foreign policy.
Read his speech in full href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/12/596&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en"> here
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