Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Political union beginning to take shape, Merkel says

  • Merkel: 'I am sure that this common sense of responsibility will remain with us far beyond the crisis' (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a political union is beginning to take shape in the EU, but the Socialist opposition has accused her of putting the Union on an "incalculable" path after last week’s summit.

Speaking to German MPs five days (14 December) after an EU summit whose outcome has already been panned by the markets, Merkel said the crisis had seen Europeans “move closer than ever before.”

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Referring to a sense of determination in other EU leaders to overcome the eurozone problems, the chancellor said: “I am sure that this common sense of responsibility will remain with us far beyond the crisis.”

“This means nothing else than that a real political union is beginning to take shape.”

She said this would mean that all countries will eventually have to work more closely on laws together “even if that is not yet legally required and enforced.”

This will require a “change in thinking” in national parliaments and the willingness to put themselves in the place of others. “We should learn from the best in all areas,” said the chancellor.

Her speech in the Bundestag comes as the summit agreement by EU leaders has already been criticised for causing legal confusion while not convincing markets that the eurozone crisis is on the way to being properly solved.

At the meeting, up to 26 member states agreed to make an intergovernmental treaty on centralising budgetary surveillance, with only Britain remaining outside after it failed in its bid to get special exemptions for its financial services sector.

Promising MEPs that they would have "observer status" in the negotiations, Merkel said the treaty should be ready by March and then should pass through parliamentary ratification "as fast as possible."

Drawing a line under the division with London, Merkel said that while she regretted the outcome, the UK is and will in future remain an "important partner."

However she was fiercely criticised by the Socialist opposition leader, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

'Not harmless'

Mocking the chancellor for her pursuit of EU treaty change ahead of the summit, Steinmeier, he said the intergovernmental path chosen sounded “harmless at first glance, but it is not.”

“With this (solution) we are putting Europe on a politically and legally fully incalculable path.”

He pointed out that the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark and Finland could have problems with the agreement while noting that the European Commission will be making sure that the Lisbon Treaty, over which the commission is the guardian, will take precedence over the new pact as much as possible.

The centre-left politician also said he believed that the "alienation process" with Britain will prove unstoppable and that Germany will come to regret the situation in a "few months' time."

The opposition criticism comes amid in-fighting within Merkel's own coalition partner, the business-friendly Free Democrats, over the extent to which troubled eurozone countries should be helped.

On Wednesday, General Secretary Christian Lindner resigned as a result of the party's deep divisions on the issue.

Feature

What did the EU agree at its 'make-or-break' summit?

Amid the fog of terminology, draft and final conclusions and annexes, not to mention allegations and denials by EU polticians over the past 24 hours, EUobserver tries to make sense of what the summit actually agreed.

UK left out as 26 EU countries to draft new treaty

A group of 26 EU member states is to forge ahead with an agreement on tightening economic governance in the eurozone, following a summit in Brussels that saw the UK sidelined after it overplayed its hand. (Updated 1.30pm Friday).

Opinion

No more integration without more representation

Despite the many calls in recent months for another great leap forward in European integration, remarkably little attention is being paid to the EU’s growing democratic deficit.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us