Plans for EU referendum drawn up for Britain
The Telegraph -
Plans for a British referendum on a new European Union constitution are being drawn up after José Manuel Barroso called for Europe to take the “federal path” in response to the eurozone crisis.
The European Commission president on Wednesday vowed that he would make transforming the EU into “a political union, with a coherent foreign and defence policy” his mission, adding that it would require an overhaul of the EU’s treaty.
“Let’s not be afraid of the words: we will need to move towards a federation of nation states. This is what we need. This is our political horizon,” he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
“We will present explicit proposals for the necessary treaty changes ahead of the next European parliamentary election in 2014. We must use the 2014 election to mobilise all pro-European forces. We must not allow the populists and the nationalists to set a negative agenda.”
To rapturous applause from MEPs, Mr Barroso added: “We need to have this vision, vision of a medium term, longer term EU that is a federal path.”
Mr Barroso’s call for a new constitutional treaty follows Angela Merkel’s demands for a political union to centralise the EU in order to avoid future debt crises threatening Europe’s single currency.
Read More: telegraph.co.uk
2012-09-15 06:43:01
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