Brussels, 25/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - 44.5% of French people, and 55% among those aged between 18 and 29), 42% of Italians and only 22.5% of Germans hope that European integration will one day lead to a “United States of Europe”, according to a survey conducted in the three countries in October 2010 at the request of the initiatives network Puissance Europe/Weltmacht Europa (http://www.puissanceeurope.eu ). The same survey reveals, too, that it is in France that there is the highest proportion of people (24.8%) wanting a return to the nation state, an end to the euro and closure of borders. Not only are Germans fewer in sharing this view (14%), but they are also the ones who look most favourably on further enlargement of the EU (31.5%, compared with 8.7% of French and 17% of Italians). European Council President Herman Van Rompuy recently expressed the view that a United States of Europe would not be desirable, “because each member state has its own history, has taken its own path. People must feel at home somewhere, they must feel an attachment to their roots. We must not change this” (see EUROPE 10245). (H.B./transl.rt)