Teh One Who Knocks
10-30-2012, 11:53 AM
By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor
http://i.imgur.com/S19wr.jpg
Tony Blair proposed an elected president for Europe yesterday.
The former prime minister, who would be a leading candidate for such a post, said a president was needed as part of a ‘grand bargain’ to save the eurozone from its debt nightmare.
His intervention came as Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, insisted Brussels must have a direct say in national budgets.
‘In order to restore confidence in the euro area, countries need to transfer part of their sovereignty to the European level,’ Mr Draghi told the German magazine Der Spiegel.
‘A lot of governments have yet to realise that they lost their national sovereignty a long time ago. Because, in the past, they have allowed their debt to pile up, they now need the goodwill of the financial markets. That sounds like a paradox, but it is nonetheless true.
‘Only when the euro area countries are willing to share sovereignty at the European level will they gain sovereignty.’
Mr Blair, who has made clear his desire for another major job in politics, said in a major speech at the Council for the Future of Europe in Berlin that voters across the continent should elect ‘a big post held by one person’ to reinvigorate enthusiasm for the European project.
He said: ‘If eurozone structures end up with a Europe that is fundamentally divided politically as well as economically; rather than a Europe with one political settlement that accommodates different levels of integration within it, the EU as we know it will be on a path to break up.’
But he added: ‘Out of this European crisis can come the opportunity finally to achieve a model of European integration that is sustainable. A Europe-wide election for the presidency ... is the most direct way to involve the public.
‘An election for a big post held by one person – this people can understand. The problem with the European Parliament is that though clearly democratically elected, my experience is people don’t feel close to their MEPs.’
He claimed too few people knew who their MEPs are, and a powerful figurehead straddling the continent would stop people feeling ‘alienated’ from Brussels.
Critics said the comments, in a speech in Berlin, were a blatant pitch for the job but hoped his ambitions would be thwarted.
Mr Blair warned that the European Union would break-up if it was unable to resolve the crisis over the eurozone.
But if greater integration in the single currency bloc created a two or three-speed Europe, it could spell the end of the EU as it currently stands.
In his address to the Nicolas Berggruen Institute on Governance, he said a directly-elected EU president could bridge the growing ‘democratic deficit’ between the people of Europe and politicians in Brussels.
Designing a new union will be ‘very difficult’, he said.
‘The danger is that the more we talk of “bringing Europe closer to the people”, the more “the people” feel alienated from it.
‘A Europe wide election for the Presidency of the Commission or Council is the most direct way to involve the public.
‘An election for a big post held by one person – this people can understand.
‘The problem with the European Parliament is that though clearly democratically elected, my experience is people don’t feel close to their MEP’s.
‘This could change but only if the European Parliament and National parliaments interact far more closely.’
He also issued a ‘stark warning’ that if eurozone structures ‘end up with a Europe that is fundamentally divided politically as well as economically; rather than a Europe with one political settlement that accommodates different levels of integration within it, the EU as we know it will be on a path to break up’.
But opponents of Mr Blair were scathing about his hopes of leading a federal Europe.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: ‘This is the man who would sell his country for the bauble of EU office. This a man who cannot be trusted with our or any other country's future.
‘He hopes that the EU can in some way have one speed while travelling at two. It just isn't possible. His hopes will be dashed, as I hope will his ambitions.’
http://i.imgur.com/S19wr.jpg
Tony Blair proposed an elected president for Europe yesterday.
The former prime minister, who would be a leading candidate for such a post, said a president was needed as part of a ‘grand bargain’ to save the eurozone from its debt nightmare.
His intervention came as Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, insisted Brussels must have a direct say in national budgets.
‘In order to restore confidence in the euro area, countries need to transfer part of their sovereignty to the European level,’ Mr Draghi told the German magazine Der Spiegel.
‘A lot of governments have yet to realise that they lost their national sovereignty a long time ago. Because, in the past, they have allowed their debt to pile up, they now need the goodwill of the financial markets. That sounds like a paradox, but it is nonetheless true.
‘Only when the euro area countries are willing to share sovereignty at the European level will they gain sovereignty.’
Mr Blair, who has made clear his desire for another major job in politics, said in a major speech at the Council for the Future of Europe in Berlin that voters across the continent should elect ‘a big post held by one person’ to reinvigorate enthusiasm for the European project.
He said: ‘If eurozone structures end up with a Europe that is fundamentally divided politically as well as economically; rather than a Europe with one political settlement that accommodates different levels of integration within it, the EU as we know it will be on a path to break up.’
But he added: ‘Out of this European crisis can come the opportunity finally to achieve a model of European integration that is sustainable. A Europe-wide election for the presidency ... is the most direct way to involve the public.
‘An election for a big post held by one person – this people can understand. The problem with the European Parliament is that though clearly democratically elected, my experience is people don’t feel close to their MEPs.’
He claimed too few people knew who their MEPs are, and a powerful figurehead straddling the continent would stop people feeling ‘alienated’ from Brussels.
Critics said the comments, in a speech in Berlin, were a blatant pitch for the job but hoped his ambitions would be thwarted.
Mr Blair warned that the European Union would break-up if it was unable to resolve the crisis over the eurozone.
But if greater integration in the single currency bloc created a two or three-speed Europe, it could spell the end of the EU as it currently stands.
In his address to the Nicolas Berggruen Institute on Governance, he said a directly-elected EU president could bridge the growing ‘democratic deficit’ between the people of Europe and politicians in Brussels.
Designing a new union will be ‘very difficult’, he said.
‘The danger is that the more we talk of “bringing Europe closer to the people”, the more “the people” feel alienated from it.
‘A Europe wide election for the Presidency of the Commission or Council is the most direct way to involve the public.
‘An election for a big post held by one person – this people can understand.
‘The problem with the European Parliament is that though clearly democratically elected, my experience is people don’t feel close to their MEP’s.
‘This could change but only if the European Parliament and National parliaments interact far more closely.’
He also issued a ‘stark warning’ that if eurozone structures ‘end up with a Europe that is fundamentally divided politically as well as economically; rather than a Europe with one political settlement that accommodates different levels of integration within it, the EU as we know it will be on a path to break up’.
But opponents of Mr Blair were scathing about his hopes of leading a federal Europe.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: ‘This is the man who would sell his country for the bauble of EU office. This a man who cannot be trusted with our or any other country's future.
‘He hopes that the EU can in some way have one speed while travelling at two. It just isn't possible. His hopes will be dashed, as I hope will his ambitions.’