German proposal for EU government

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a significant development.  Political leadership is finally
coming from the one single possible source in Europe: Germany.  This is
a move towards the inevitability of a multi-polar world order, putting
an end to dangerous US hegemony.

Henry C.K. Liu

BBC NEWS Sunday, 29 April, 2001, 10:04 GMT 11:04 UK
German proposal for EU government

European leaders would serve as second chamber
By Berlin Rob Broomby in Berlin

Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has put forward plans for a
radical shake-up of the European Union, including the formation of a
European government.

His ideas, contained in a draft policy document for the Social Democrat
party conference in the autumn, were reported in the German news
magazine Der Spiegel and have been confirmed by the SPD.

The document signals Chancellor Schroeder's wish to make European policy
central to his re-election campaign in 2002.

But it is bound to unsettle Eurosceptics outside his own country.

The document calls for the European Commission in Brussels to be turned
into a new government, while proposing that the Council of Ministers,
which pulls together the leaders of the member states, should become a
second chamber similar to Germany's Bundesrat.

The European Parliament would gain supervision of the European budget,
including massive agricultural spending.

Second term

In the past, Mr Schroeder has allowed his Foreign Minister, Joschka
Fischer, to appear as a European visionary and face the resulting
criticism whilst he stood back, signalling his quiet approval.

Now it appears he wants to take the issue centre-stage himself.

The draft drawn up by the chancellor and a senior working group still
has to go before various party committees before being discussed at the
autumn conference.

But it is a sign that Mr Schroeder wants to have a clear policy on the
development of Europe to take into a second term if he is re-elected.