E.U. Official Urges More Unity
LONDON — Confronted by rising populism and ebbing support for the European Union, one of the bloc’s senior figures made a rare call Monday for a leap forward in integration, contending that the Continent could save itself from second-class status only by more cooperation.
The official, Michel Barnier, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market and services and a former foreign minister of France, called for an E.U. defense policy, consular service and civil defense force.
Speaking in Berlin, Mr. Barnier also argued for the creation of a powerful figure to speak for countries using the euro, and for an E.U. president who would ultimately be directly elected.
With public opinion in most member states increasingly skeptical about the merits of European integration, most politicians have avoided ambitious declarations that would be unlikely to win clear support in 27 capitals.
But Mr. Barnier’s speech placed the idea of closer integration within the context of waning European influence and the growing gap between citizens and the bloc.
He delivered the speech at Humboldt University on Europe Day, highlighting the growth in populism in Europe and arguing that public anger over banking excesses should be assuaged by rules on bonuses and action against high salaries that he describes as “simply unjustifiable.”
Mr. Barnier, whose responsibility includes banking regulation and the internal market, also called for a tax on financial transactions.
Meanwhile, the speech, 13 pages long, painted a stark picture of the fate confronting Europe as it struggles to deal with a stagnant economy and shrinking population. In recent elections in Finland and France, more than one-fifth of voters supported extremist or populist parties “seeking to bring an end to the European project,” Mr. Barnier said.
By 2050, he asked, “will Europe be unable to cope with the dynamism of other regions of the world, and be paralyzed at home by national populism and selfishness, leading it to resign itself to being nothing more than a regional power?”
“Will Europe be a continent under the influence of the United States, China and even of Russia?” he said.
Mr. Barnier added that of the 27 E.U. economies, only Germany and Britain would be in the world’s top 10 by 2050 on current trends. With its aging population, he said, Europe must welcome immigrants if its economies are to sustain their dynamism.
He also called for closer integration of asylum and immigration policy and argued for a series of changes to E.U. structures. Mr. Barnier suggested that the presidency of the euro-zone group of finance ministers, now held by Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, should be joined with that of European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs. This combination would create a more powerful position as the political representative for the euro.
Similarly, the presidencies of the bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, and the European Council should be merged, and the new position appointed by the European Parliament and representatives of national parliaments. Such a president would be directly elected, Mr. Barnier said.
Although this arrangement would prove highly controversial with some governments, Mr. Barnier’s proposals on defense are equally far-reaching.
“The E.U. needs to set up a permanent capacity to plan and carry out operations,” he said, while also calling for a “true military staff structure, systematically bringing together research efforts and resources, and favoring European products when purchasing equipment.”