Brussels, 05/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Former key European leaders, including Gerhard Schröder, Guy Verhofstadt, Mario Monti, Felipe Gonzalez and Matti Vanhanen, met in Brussels on Monday 5 September under the aegis of the Nicolas Berggruen Institute and affirmed in, a joint statement, that in dealing with the crisis the EU should move towards greater integration using the Community method. Therein, the authors of the statement say, lies the “only solution” for the euro area, faced as it is with a crisis of governance and the very real possibility of collapse if it does not resolve to follow a path of greater economic and fiscal integration. Europe is, then, “at a crossroads” but the current crisis may provide just the opportunity to relaunch this integration process and to nip in the bud the nationalist tendencies which are beginning to appear.
Achieving greater integration, however, requires the support and commitment of European citizens. To win these, citizens' doubts and anxieties must be honestly engaged and guarantees given on the realisation of medium- and long-term goals, to give credibility to short-term steps. The statement sets out nine points: - avoiding any spread of debt crisis contagion by putting in place a European stabilisation fund with increased resources; - ensuring appropriate capitalisation of the financial sector in the eurozone; - developing a certain form of fiscal federalism and economic coordination (a European entity that will have the capacity to source revenue at the federal level; the issue of Eurobonds accompanied by effective control mechanisms to avoid large fiscal deficits); - orderly debt resolution, taking care not to “undermine” recovery; - an ambitious European growth and employment programme by stimulating competition (research, innovation, etc.); - adapting the social compact and systems of social security to the new realities, such as an ageing population, in order to maintain the European social model; - making the EU a genuine global player through a federal vision not only on economic matters but also in security, energy, climate change, immigration and foreign policy; - improving the democratic process to involve citizens in this integration. (F.G./transl.rt)