José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, today issues a sharp rebuke to Eurosceptics, including those in the British government, who want to use the current crisis to disengage from the European Union.
Writing in the Observer, Barroso makes a rare intervention in the UK political debate by warning that all members of the EU need to unite and "advance together".
Citing Remembrance Sunday, he warns that "actions have consequences" and claims that peace and prosperity will best be furthered by Europeans supporting and trusting EU institutions, rather than allowing the continent to fragment politically and economically. He writes: "In this defining moment, we either unite or face irrelevance. Our goal must not be to maintain the status quo, but to move on to something new and better," adding: "I hope when historians look back on these unprecedented times, they will understand that we stepped back from the brink of fragmentation. I hope they will see how the UK fully engaged with fellow member states and institutional partners to ensure the stability of the EU."
After a tumultuous week in Europe that saw Italy pushed to the brink of meltdown, Barroso's strongly worded intervention underlines the depth of anxiety in Brussels about the future of the single currency and the EU.
Reports emerged, after a brutal sell-off in bond markets sent Italy's borrowing costs soaring, that France and Germany had discussed the idea of a smaller eurozone, with weaker states such as Greece encouraged to leave, and the inevitable creation of a two-tier EU.
There have also been renewed calls from the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative party for the UK to partly or totally withdraw from the EU, culminating last month in 81 Conservative MPs defying a three-line whip to vote against the government and in favour of a referendum on membership.
But Barroso, in comments likely to generate a furious backlash from some on the right of British politics, firmly dismisses any idea that this is a time for Europe to fragment. Rather than regarding the crisis as an opportunity for states to redraw their relationships with the EU, he says that the progress of European integration must no longer be limited by "the speed of the slowest or most reluctant member". » | Daniel Boffey and Heather Stewart | Sunday, November 13, 2011
