European army backed

Bruno Waterfield, Brussels, The Age, Sept. 20, 2012
GERMANY, France and nine of Europe’s most powerful countries have called for an elected European Union president and an end to Britain’s veto over defence policy, in a radical blueprint for the continent’s future.

In a document released following a meeting between 11 foreign ministers in Warsaw, the bloc charted a vision for the “future of Europe”.

As well as calling for a single, elected head of state for Europe, the bloc demanded a new defence policy, under the control of a pan-EU foreign ministry commanded by Baroness Ashton, which “could eventually involve a European army”.

In order to “prevent one single member state from being able to obstruct initiatives”, a reference to British opposition to a European army, the German-led group demanded an end to existing national vetoes over foreign and defence policy. This would give the EU the power to impose a decision on Britain if it was supported by a majority of other countries.

The bloc also called for a new European police force patrolling the external borders of the Schengen passport-free zone and a single European visa.

The plan, which has the backing of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Holland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and Portugal, is likely to increase calls for a British referendum on EU membership.

The document also proposed powers for the European Parliament and further splitting of the EU, by creating a new parliamentary sub-chamber for the 17 countries of the eurozone.

In a joint statement, Guido Westerwelle and Radek Sikorski, the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland, called for the creation of a single EU president, running the commission and overseeing regular summits, and directly elected by voters in a pan-European vote “on the same day in all member states”.

“For Europe to be a truly strong actor and global leader it needs a strong institutional set-up,” said Mr Westerwelle and Mr Sikorski. “It needs a directly elected president who personally appoints the members of his ‘European government’.”

The 11 countries also said changes to European treaties should in future be adopted and implemented “by a super-qualified majority of the EU member states” instead of by unanimity, meaning treaties could no longer be blocked by “No” votes in referendums.

The document follows last week’s call by the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, for the EU to become a “federation” and growing calls in Britain for a referendum on any new European treaty or constitution.