BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday
reiterated her call for a deeper European integration over the medium
term.
“We do not only need a currency union, but we also need a so-called
fiscal union, that is, more joint budget policies,” Merkel told German
ARD public television.
“And most of all we also need a political union, that is, we must
step by step hand over competence to Europe and give Europe more
controls,” the chancellor explained.
Merkel cautioned, though, not to expect too much from the EU summit
at the end of the month.
“I don’t believe there will be one single summit that will make a
big breakthough,” she explained. “But what we have been doing for some
time, and for which a working plan will certainly be presented in June,
is to say we need more Europe.”
Last month EU leaders asked the heads of the European Council, the
Commission, the Eurogroup and the European Central Bank to look into
ways to achieve economic integration among EU and Eurozone member
states. More details of the plan are to be unveiled by EU leaders when
they meet in Brussels on June 28 and 29.
–Berlin bureau: +49 30 22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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