Jacques Delors: create a Eurozone exit

In a frank interview with Le Monde, Former European Commission president Jacques Delors argues for a new treaty that would centralize budget control within the Eurozone, but also allow for evicting recalcitrant or irresponsible members. Delors, who served as commission president from 1985 to 1994, is now part of the Spinelli Group, which aims to ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

In a frank interview with Le Monde, Former European Commission president Jacques Delors argues for a new treaty that would centralize budget control within the Eurozone, but also allow for evicting recalcitrant or irresponsible members. Delors, who served as commission president from 1985 to 1994, is now part of the Spinelli Group, which aims to rekindle the federal spirit in Europe. The group's manifesto bemoans what it describes as a slide toward national solutions:

In a frank interview with Le Monde, Former European Commission president Jacques Delors argues for a new treaty that would centralize budget control within the Eurozone, but also allow for evicting recalcitrant or irresponsible members. Delors, who served as commission president from 1985 to 1994, is now part of the Spinelli Group, which aims to rekindle the federal spirit in Europe. The group’s manifesto bemoans what it describes as a slide toward national solutions:

Today things are moving in the opposite direction, towards a looser instead of a closer Union, towards a more national instead of post-national Europe. Throwing the Community spirit behind, Member states let short-term national interests cloud the common vision. They favour intergovernmental solutions above European solutions. Almost to the point of breaking up the Euro, the most concrete symbol of European integration.

We oppose this backward and reactionary direction. Europe has been yet again abducted – by a coalition of national politicians. It is time to bring her back. We believe that this is not the moment for Europe to slow down further integration, but on the contrary to accelerate it. The history of the European Union has proven that more Europe, not less, is the answer to the problems we face. Only with European solutions and a renewed European spirit will we be able to tackle the worldwide challenges.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tag: EU

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