Re: German proposal for EU government

["J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>]

     One thing that this proposal has that it clearly
needed is for the democratically elected European
Parliament to gain power over the EU budget and
greater authority over the European Commission,
a problem clearly noted by Trond Andresen.  Further
unity in the EU is only meaningful and politically
possible if that happens.  The current setup is clearly
losing its credibility.
Barkley Rosser
----- Original Message -----
From: "Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2001 6:05 PM
Subject: German proposal for EU government


> 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.
>
>